The first agreement on cooperation of hromadas was concluded in the Rivne Oblast in October 2017. Thus, the Myrohoshchanska and Pryvilnenska AHs formed a joint methodological centre (without a legal entity status) within the executive committee of the Myrohoshchanska village council.

Cooperation of hromadas is one of the tools of the local development policy, that has recently become more widespread in many European countries and particularly in Ukraine. As of 28 October, there are already 108 examples of intermunicipal cooperation in Ukraine, where two or more hromadas agree to jointly address issues relevant to them on a contractual basis.

In order to share experience, the "Intermunicipal Cooperation: legal aspects and application practice" training was held on 9 November at the initiative of the Rivne Local Government Centre, established with the support of the” U-LEAD with Europe” Programme and MinRegion. During the day, the heads, deputy heads and other officials of the oblast AHs were told about the current state of the intermunicipal cooperation in Ukraine, as well as the most common forms and areas of cooperation.

An expert from Poltava Nadiya Kostina, who specialises in the development of hromadas’ cooperation, reviewed the existing intermunicipal cooperation projects in Ukraine and abroad, and told about the experience of the Poltava Oblast. This oblast is currently one of the leaders in the number of contracts concluded.

The training participants have also simulated intermunicipal cooperation projects for the Rivne Oblast.

Vitalii Moshkun, head of Krupetska AH and one of the participants, noted that hromadas of Krupets and Radyvyliv have been cooperating for a long time, in particular, regarding the use of sports halls and the maintenance of a musical school. The training will give an insight into how to formulate this cooperation properly and will form a vision of the future joint projects.

In general, the intermunicipal cooperation agreements have been concluded in 18 oblasts of Ukraine.