The participants of the committee hearings discussed the state of affairs in the field of formation and implementation of state regional policy in the context of opportunities for development of territorial communities, regions and Ukraine in external and internal challenges and threats, outlined priorities for legislative activity in this area.
Opening the hearings, the Chairperson of the Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional and Urban Development noted that the decentralization reform was recognized as one of the most successful reforms of recent times.
According to him, "an effective regional policy should become a tool that will help us strengthen the effect of decentralization reform, answer the questions: how to overcome territorial disparities caused by external and internal factors, demographic, economic and financial." He addressed the participants during the hearings to join in finding answers to the questions: what should be the key goals and objectives of the state strategy of regional development, what should be the territorial approach to planning public investment in regional development, how efficiently and transparently are the funds of the State Fund for Regional Development used, what changes are needed to improve the regional policy of the state in Donbas in the context of the initiative of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to introduce a zone to attract investment to the region and end the war?
The Chairperson of the Sub-Committee on Regional Policy and Local Budgets of the Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional and Urban Development said that the Committee, together with the Cabinet of Ministers and the relevant Ministry of Community and Territorial Development, has done significant legislative work to complete decentralization reform.
The Committee is working to make state regional policy more cohesive. According to him, it is very important to work at all levels. "We have to support regions that have different needs. In view of this, the regional policy should be divided into certain clusters," the MP said.
Three panel discussions took place during the hearings. At the first, devoted to the history of state regional policy formation and new challenges, the participants discussed the issues of external and internal challenges: military conflict, demography, unproductive economy, non-compliance with the rules of strategic planning and financing, territorial disparities, the legal framework for policy formulation and implementation. During the second discussion, the issues of strategic planning of regional development and financing of regional development projects were discussed - experience, opportunities, problems and ways to overcome them; state strategy of regional development 2027 - tasks for the medium term; the role of institutions and partnerships in regional development.
During the panel discussion "State regional policy - the role of institutions in the development of communities, regions, the state" was the presentation of bills on amendments to the laws "On the principles of state regional policy", "On stimulating the development of regions" and other initiatives of public authorities in Ukraine on regional development, as well as discussed the possibility of coordinating various policies in the regional dimension.
The hearings were held by the Committee together with the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development and the Civil Society Institute.