Issues of personnel policy and organisation of work of local councils, provision of administrative services and activities of amalgamated hromadas were discussed within the framework of the Forum of Local Self-Governance, launched in Kyiv on 19 February. The forum was organised by the Association of Ukrainian Cities within the framework of the Policy for Ukraine Local Self-Governance (PULSE) project of USAID.

Serhiy Vlasenko, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on State Building, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government, drew the attention of the participants to important draft laws that are currently being considered by the Committee and are of great importance for the further development of the local self-government reform, as reported by the website of the Committee.

“First of all, it is a question of a new edition of the Law of Ukraine “On Service in Local Self-Government Bodies”, intended to update the legislative regulation of the principles, legal and organisational concepts of service in local self-government bodies, conditions and procedures for the exercise by the citizens of Ukraine of the right to serve in local self-government bodies. The law worked out by the Committee and adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine was returned to the President of Ukraine for re-consideration with remarks, in particular, regarding the necessity of applying the competitive procedure when appointing village, rural settlement and city deputy heads. On the other hand, there is a well-understood and reasoned position, supported by the Association of Ukrainian Cities in particular, that these appointments should be carried out by the village, rural settlement and city head as a means of forming his/her own team. To date, there is a certain consensus around this draft law, and there is hope that a compromise will be found to resolve it at the Committee meeting on 28 February 2018,” the publication reads.

Serhiy Vlasenko paid special attention to the draft law regulating the mechanism of voluntary accession of village and rural settlement hromadas to the hromadas of cities of oblast significance with the formation of a single hromada and its classification as a capable one.

“The preparation of the mentioned document and its passage at the Committee level does not raise any reservations, but there is a question with the general support of the deputy corps we are currently directing our efforts at”, said the Chairman of the Committee.