Every month, the Decentralisation.ua portal reviews the results of the previous month. We highlight important decisions made by the National Government and the Parliament that were adopted or entered into force, and cover the events and discussions that deserve the attention of local governments or require their participation.

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In February 2025, the Government’s annual action plan for decentralisation and regional development, the six-month plan of the profile parliamentary committee were presented to the public, and an ambiguous law was passed that does not allow the creation of utility companies in communities…

The latter is the first to go. On 28 February, the Law on Peculiarities of Regulation of Business Activities of Certain Types of Legal Entities and Their Associations in the Transition Period (Draft Law No. 6013) came into force. This Law, in particular, prohibits the creation of new utility companies in communities. They are to be replaced by private business companies. Although this does not automatically liquidate the current utility companies, it may create problems at the local level, in particular in the area of inter-municipal cooperation and attracting international financing for joint community projects. Local governments would greatly benefit from quality clarifications from lawmakers on the algorithms for further actions.

With regard to law-making in February in general, several decisions are worth mentioning:

• On 26 February, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted as a basis Draft Law on amendments to certain laws of Ukraine on the extension of the validity of territory planning documents No.12283. The Draft Law calls for suspending the mandatory development of comprehensive community planning documents until 1 January 2028. As previously reported, according to the current legislation, all communities had to develop their comprehensive spatial development plans by the end of December 2024. However, not all communities were able to comply with this requirement, for the procedure is complicated, lengthy, expensive and not a top priority at the local level in times of war.
• On 11 February, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted as a basis Draft Law No. 12117 on the improvement of the functioning of industrial parks. The Draft Law proposes technical changes, including: a clear delineation of the functions of all industrial park entities; allowing the initiator of an industrial park to simultaneously be a management company in one legal entity; expanding the list of activities of an industrial park participant. In terms of industrial parks, it is worth mentioning that on 21 February, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved a decision to exclude four industrial parks from the register of industrial parks in Ukraine. The decision was made based on the fact that management companies had not been selected in the industrial parks within two years. Therefore, the parks did not carry out economic activities aimed to develop the park and attract participants and other entities. The exclusion of an industrial park from the register is not a reason for its liquidation. It can continue to operate, but without receiving any benefits or incentives from the state.
• On 20 February, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on the Organisation of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning recommended to the Verkhovna Rada to adopt in the first reading the Government’s Draft Law No.12447, which is supposed to align legislation with changes in the administrative and territorial structure. It is a technical draft law, the authors of which propose to amend 6 codes and 66 laws of Ukraine and align their provisions with the Law “On the Procedure for Resolving Certain Issues of the Administrative and Territorial Structure of Ukraine” and other relevant legal acts on local self-government.

In February, the yearly plan of the profile ministry and the six-month plan of the parliamentary committee on decentralisation and regional development were publicised.

On 18 February, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted the 2025 Government Plan of Priority Actions. As for regional development and decentralisation, the Government plans to work on delineating the powers of local governments and executive authorities, regulate the procedure for restoring public authorities in the de-occupied territories, approve the procedure for the DREAM system, and conduct research on the possibility of granting communities the status of a legal entity.

Meanwhile, on 20 February, the Parliamentary Committee on the Organisation of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional and Urban Development approved its action plan for the 13th session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the IX convocation, namely for February-July 2025. Out of more than 600 draft legislative acts, there are also draft laws included in our infographic ‘10 key draft laws to support and develop communities and territories’ (click here to view the infographic).

The following public discussions were held in February with the participation of representatives of central authorities, local self-government and international partners:

On 6 February, Kyiv hosted the Strategic Planning at the Regional Level: From Recovery to Development National Forum, which summarised the results of regional strategic sessions and presented a new territorially-oriented concept of strategic planning.

On 11 February, 19 February and 28 February, the Ministry for Development held a meeting of the expert working group that reviews draft regional development strategies until 2027 and plans for their implementation. Development strategies for the Chernivtsi, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Sumy, Vinnytsia, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Chernihiv, Ternopil and Odesa regions were analysed at these meetings. The strategies of Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Chernihiv and Chernivtsi regions were approved. The strategies of Zhytomyr, Rivne, Vinnytsia and Sumy regions were recommended for approval after further amendments. The draft strategies of Ternopil and Odesa regions were not approved, since they need improvement based on the comments and suggestions of experts.

On 13 February, Rivne region hosted a sitting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine, during which Oleksii Kuleba, Vice Prime Minister for Recovery, Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, held a meeting with representatives of 69 communities from the region. The discussion focused on local budget revenues, support programmes for internally displaced persons, social benefits, energy independence of cities and villages, and on logistics.

On 14 February, the second meeting was held of the Coordination Centre for the management of the regions where hostilities are taking place or have taken place, and of temporarily occupied territories. During the meeting, the participants discussed the development of the state policy of internal displacement and meeting the needs of IDPs, as well as the regulatory framework for the reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories and the transition period.

On 17 February Ternopil and 18 February Lutsk hosted meetings with representatives of communities from these regions to present the Catalogue of Ukrainian Wheeled Vehicle Manufacturers for Communities, which includes 255 units of wheeled vehicles manufactured by 32 companies from 14 regions of Ukraine. Previously, such meetings were held for communities in Khmelnytskyi and Chernivtsi regions.

We will continue to monitor how the above decisions are implemented, whether the authorities transform the results of the discussions into real actions, and whether these actions meet the expectations of the communities.

To stay informed, follow the news on the Decentralization.gov.ua portal, our online calendar, and updates on our Facebook and Telegram pages.

Have a fruitful month! The results of March will be presented in early April.

All key news of the past months can be found in our reviews by the following link.