A coalition of leading Ukrainian political parties has agreed to conduct power decentralization and transfer of broader powers, including financial ones, to local governments throughout 2015.
Under a document, which was posted on the website of the Samopomich Union on Friday, the coalition sets a 2015 goal of “providing local governments at a base level with real powers on the basis of the principle of subsidiary to ensure public services are provided efficiently and as closely to the citizen as possible.”
At the same time, members of the future coalition are going to determine the list of powers to be handed over to local governments at local and regional levels based on the outcomes of a public debate and to provide such local and regional councils with their own executive bodies.
Furthermore, the coalition members are planning to ensure necessary changes to the Budget and Tax Codes, which stipulate providing local governments with resources, are passed at the first session of Verkhovna Rada.
“(We intend) to provide local governments with financial resources in accordance with the powers the list of which is established by the law and to give financial independence to local budgets on the basis of decentralization in accordance with the new Budget and Tax Codes,” the document said.
The “coalition” is also planning to legislate the issue of how local referendums should be held.
As part of the effort to organize territorial government at the local level, the task throughout 2015 will be to change the Constitution “to ensure a legal framework for passing a number of statutory acts necessary to implement the reform of local self-government and territorial organization of government,” the coalition agreement said.
De-concentration and decentralization of powers will be ensured in accordance with the Ukrainian Concept for reforming local self-government and territorial organization of government and the European Charter of Local Self-Government, the document said.
There are also plans to re-organize local state administration into prefectures.
