According to Yanina Kazyuk, financial decentralisation coordinator of the Central Reform Office under MinRegion, all 665 amalgamated hromadas have legislative basis and indicators to draft local budgets.

On 4 December 2017, the Government approved the Draft Law of Ukraine “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2018” and submitted it for consideration of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the second reading.

“Article 29 of the draft law stipulates that in 2018 relations between the state budget and budgets of those amalgamated hromadas, which local councils acquire powers according to the results of the first local elections held in 2017, are established pursuant to Appendix No 11 to this draft law. Thus, interbudgetary transfers are foreseen for 299 AHs, where the first local elections were held or will be held in 2017. Therefore, all 665 AHs have legislative basis and indicators to draft local budgets,” said Yanina Kazyuk.

Taking into account that it is for the first time that the newly established AHs form budgets according to the programme-targeted method and plan expenditures under new budget powers, the Financial Monitoring Group experts of the Central Reform Office recommend not to waste time, but intensify work on the formation of their budgets with due account of interbudgetary relations with the state budget.

“We emphasise the need for taking appropriate measures in those hromadas where first elections will be held on 24 December 2017,” the expert said.

She reminded that the main requirements for drafting local budgets and their approval were stipulated by the provisions of Articles 75-77, points 18, 38 of Section VI “Final and Transitional Provisions” of the Budget Code of Ukraine.

In order for the experts of the Financial Monitoring Group of the Central Reform Office under MinRegion (with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme and SKL International Project) to provide practical and methodical assistance to AH representatives, “Budget Process”, “Sources of Local Budget Revenues”, “State Road Fund”, “Instructions for preparing budget requests. Document Samples” materials were placed on the website “Decentralisation” in the “Finance” section.