“The decentralisation reform and local improvement have always been a priority for the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and our political team,” said the First Vice Speaker.
At the same time, Oleksandr Korniienko noted that this was discussed from the beginning of the presidential campaign, and then the parliamentary force actively continued the reform in the legislative field: “This has resulted in very important achievements in increasing the financial capacity of communities in the process of forming the updated administrative and territorial structure.”
“All these prerequisites helped our communities to withstand in February 2022, and they have become a real pillar of the country's defence capability,” the First Vice Speaker emphasised.
In addition, he noted that this is a reform and a policy system that always has a dialogue format with answers: “And at the same time, it is quite successful, because it concerns people's lives and their improvement, bringing services and resources closer to them, and increasing local communities.”
In conclusion, the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine expressed his belief that the next ten years in the context of local self-government will also be about joining the European Union: “We have many tasks ahead of us, in particular, increasing the capacity of each community and bringing services closer to citizens everywhere.”
For reference. The event was organised by the Office of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine with the participation of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Ukraine Crisis Media Centre and Global Communities Ukraine.