Support of the Carpathian territories has become one of the key topics when considering regional development issues. The decisions made by experts and the Government, as well as the initiatives that are being implemented in the Carpathian region, give reason to believe that we are on the verge of an economic breakthrough on this territory, said Vyacheslav Nehoda, First Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, during the plenary discussion “Carpathian Breakthrough: a Partnership for Development”, held within the framework of the IV Local Development Forum in Truskavets.

He recalled that in April this year the Government approved the Concept of the development of mountainous territories of the Ukrainian Carpathians, which changes the philosophy of supporting mountainous areas – from social subsidies to creating economic development opportunities of these regions. The discussion and preparation of a plan for implementation of the Concept is ongoing. In addition, a number of laws have been registered in the Verkhovna Rada aimed at supporting the territories of the Ukrainian Carpathians.

“It is also important that today the Government has approved budget funds distribution in 2019 for regional development projects that can be implemented at the expense of the funds received from the European Union. As it is known, among the projects there is a significant number of those relating to the development of the Carpathians,” said Vyacheslav Nehoda.

According to the First Deputy Minister, the Carpathian region is an example of how several regions can unite to search for external resources for development.

“The support from the European countries, successfully attracted by the Carpathian region hromadas, is good, and the Government has already confirmed that it is ready to contribute to it. Yet domestic opportunities provided by decentralisation, introduced since 2014, should be used more effectively. I heard today that decentralisation did little to the Carpathian region. I would comment this way: It gave a little, because the region took little. Many hromadas have not yet taken advantage of the mechanism of amalgamation or cooperation. The quality of projects that are submitted from here for governmental funding is also often low. Therefore, it is of course necessary to look for neighbours’ support, but at the same time there is no need to forget about the own capacity development,” Vyacheslav Nehoda said.