14 January 2016, 14:50
Support to unification of communities, raising their capacity, transfer of powers to the local level and further development of democracy are the major tasks for 2016 to continue introduction of decentralization in Ukraine, Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Groysman said opening the meeting entitled "Major trends of decentralization of power in Ukraine in 2016" on Thursday.
Unification of territorial communities
In 2016, the authorities have to focus on supporting the unified territorial communities, Groysman said. "We have to show success of management at the very basic level," the Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada said.
He also noted that the unified territorial communities would receive better conditions and opportunities for further development.
Distribution of authority
Besides, Groysman said the country requires clear distribution of authorities and responsibilities at the different levels — communities, towns, districts, regions, in particular, in the field of education and health care.
The Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada noted that the optimization of expenditures in different sectors envisioned by the State Budget of Ukraine for 2016 should not be of any harm to them and should not load the levers of management of local communities.
"We have to regulate all authorities, regulate all responsibilities and build proper cooperation," the Chairperson of the Ukrainian Parliament said.
Raising capacity of local self-government bodies
Another key issue in the field of decentralization is the capacity of local self-government bodies. "If we pass the authorities [to the local level], we have to get sure that these authorities will be fulfilled and be useful for the people," he said.
The Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada noted that local communities have to be taught managing own resources, in particular, through organizing qualification-upgrading courses, providing methodological and legal assistance, etc.
The Chairperson of the Ukrainian Parliament also called for immediate settlement of the issue of adoption of the law on local self-government.
Local democracy
The development of local democracy is important for the decentralization reform in Ukraine. It is able to ensure the responsibility of local self-government bodies both to the state and communities, Groysman said. "The mechanism of local democracy is an opportunity for the citizens to influence on their authorities. It requires our supervision," Groysman said.
At the end of his speech, the Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada expressed hope that the result of the meeting will be the elaboration of the operational plan for 2016 with precise terms and responsibilities to ensure "effective implementation of the decentralization reform."