On 17 October, at the meeting of the Donor Board on Decentralisation in Ukraine, MP Oleksandr Korniyenko, member of the Legal Reform Commission, presented the Concept of the draft amendments to the Constitution regarding the territorial organisation of power and local self-government.

In particular, the Concept proposes a three-tier system of administrative and territorial structure – hromada (basic level), district (subregional level), region (oblasts within present borders and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea).

“We propose to establish local self-government bodies at two levels of administrative and territorial structure – at the hromada level with a hromada council and its executive committee, and at the oblast level with oblast council and its executive body. The innovation is that the oblast council receives its own executive committee and represents the common interests of all hromadas of the region,” said Oleksandr Korniyenko. But at the subregional level (rayons or districts), no functions remain for local self-government, according to the MP.

Experts suggest that the approach to subregional level formation may be a major stumbling block in drafting changes to the Constitution. Therefore, in this issue, we should expect difficult dialogues of MPs, government officials, experts and specialised associations. There will be no easy decision, but it must be made.

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