Some politicians have been claiming that the reform of local self-government and territorial organisation of public governance that is being implemented according to the Reform Concept No. 333-r of 01 April 2014 contradicts the Constitution of Ukraine. They also say that amalgamated hromadas are illegal and that changes in the administrative and territorial system of the country are impossible without amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine.

In fact, this is not true. The constitution of Ukraine regulates the issue of administrative system in a rather general way, as it is inherent in the constitutional regulation.

The completion of the reform as for administrative and territorial system in Ukraine does not require the introduction of amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine, but it needs the adoption of the corresponding laws: a law approving administrative and territorial units and a law defining the procedures for the formation/reorganisation/ liquidation of administrative and territorial units and other technical issues.

The system of administrative and territorial units, which follows from the constitutional norms, should consist of three levels: basic/hromada, intermediate/rayon, regional/oblast, and the Autonomic Republic of Crimea.

And there are bodies of local self-government in the administrative-territorial units of each level with powers determined by law.

In the administrative-territorial units of the intermediate/rayon and regional/oblast levels, there are bodies of executive power of general jurisdiction, that are local state administrations, besides the territorial bodies/units of central executive authorities may also act.
According to Anatoliy Tkachuk, Institute of Civil Society, 17 July 2019

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