Serhiy Vlasenko, Head of the Committee on State Construction, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government, held a meeting with Georg Milbradt, Special Envoy of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Ukrainian reform in the areas of governance and decentralisation, and representatives of the Donor Boards on decentralisation in Ukraine.

The meeting was also attended by Holger Tausch, Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Ukraine, Berend de Groot, Head of Cooperation of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, representatives of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Ukraine, experts of the Support Group for Ukraine on public policy in decentralisation and sectoral reforms at the European Commission, representatives of the German Embassy and ​​GIZ project.

The parties discussed the joint statement of bilateral donor agencies and multilateral organisations that support the reform of decentralisation and local self-government in Ukraine, and appeal of Georg Milbradt, Special Envoy of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Ukrainian reform in the areas of governance and decentralisation, to promote the reform of power decentralisation and local self-government in Ukraine, further development of the decentralisation reform in Ukraine, implementation of measures to accelerate it, including concrete steps in the field of legislative activity.

Thus, Georg Milbradt stressed the necessity of adopting the draft law “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine On Voluntary Amalgamation of Hromadas” on the voluntary accession of hromadas of villages and rural settlements to hromadas of the cities of oblast significance” No 6466, that simplifies the process of hromadas’ amalgamation, though was not adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and was returned to the Committee to get prepared for a second reading. Explaining the situation, Serhiy Vlasenko noted that there will be no delay in passage of this issue at the level of the Committee and the document will be considered at its next meeting. At the same time, one more problematic issue is the adoption of the new version of the Law of Ukraine “On Service within the Local Self-Government Bodies” that stopped at the stage of consideration of the proposals of the President of Ukraine to the relevant Law, adopted as a whole by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Consultations among all interested parties are currently under way, and in late February the Committee can discuss acceptable options of proposals, allowing efficient voting in the session hall.

During the meeting, the issues of reasonability of rayons’ existence in their present form were discussed, with due account of the fact that amalgamated hromadas on the territory of these rayons provide all necessary administrative services to the residents and solve local issues.

Representatives of the donor community were interested in the opinion regarding the draft law on the transfer of land to local self-government bodies outside settlements, introduction of state control over activities and acts of local self-government bodies, etc.

The Head of the Committee recognised the urgency of the problem of state control over the solution of local issues, but noted that this is a complex and delicate task, and that the Committee is ready to launch its discussion.

Serhiy Vlasenko also expressed his stance on the idea of the management of the local seld-governments’ land through the State Land Cadastre Centre, stressing that it entails a major corruption risk and that all land issues should be regulated by law. He added that a lot of technical issues, in particular, the lack of certainty with the boundaries of administrative-territorial units, make an evident obstacle in this regard.

The Head of the Committee informed the participants of the meeting that the joint statement of bilateral donor agencies and multilateral organisations supporting the reform of decentralisation and local self-government in Ukraine, and the appeal of Georg Milbradt, Special Envoy for the Ukrainian Reforms, to promote the reforms of decentralisation of power and local self-government in Ukraine will be considered at the meeting of the Committee on 28 February this year.

Serhiy Vlasenko assured the representatives of the donor community in the readiness of the Committee to join all the initiatives of the donors and expressed hope for the continuation of a constructive dialogue between the Parliament of Ukraine and the international community.