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Regional development

Decentralisation in Ukraine: seminar series

 

The project

The Project aims to help the Ukrainian authorities implement decentralisation reform and strengthen public governance institutions at national and subnational levels, throughout the country. It is jointly implemented by the OECD Regional Development Policy Division and the OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Programme, in close collaboration with the Government of Ukraine.

The project builds on the findings of the OECD Territorial Review of Ukraine (2014). More information about the project (PDF brochure). 

 

4th OECD SEMINAR: FOSTERING INTER-MUNICIPAL CO-OPERATION FOR IMPROVED PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY 

This was the fourth seminar in a series forming part of the OECD project Supporting Decentralisation in Ukraine. The seminar, held in Zhytomyr on 18 July 2017, provided a platform for local authorities from Zhytomyr and neighbouring localities to exchange on their experiences and challenges faced in fostering inter-municipal co-operation as part of the ongoing decentralisation reform. Participants had the opportunity to hear how their peers are tackling the challenges of public service delivery in transport, infrastructure, education and waste management.

The seminar was opened by Mr. Matviy Khrenov, Deputy Mayor of Zhytomyr City Council. The audience included policy makers and practitioners from the public sector, think tanks, as well as representatives of associations, NGOs and international organisations involved in the decentralisation reform. 

 


key messages

This seminar explored some of the challenges faced by Ukraine’s newly amalgamated communities in fostering inter-municipal co-operation (IMC), as a means to improve public service delivery and strengthen regional development. The key messages arising from the seminar included:

  • IMC can improve the efficiency of public service delivery when municipalities have overlapping or redundant functions, leading to better quality and a greater variety of public services on offer. The joint provision of public services (e.g. water, waste management, energy, transport and telecommunications) allows municipalities to benefit from economies of scale, while retaining their identity and the functions that either do not require a larger scale of provision or do not affect neighbouring municipalities.
  • IMC can help to build trust among neighbouring municipalities, and can be a useful first step towards more binding arrangements such as municipal mergers.
  • Autonomy of local governments, including the ability to delegate functions, is essential to facilitate IMC.
  • A national policy and supportive legal framework for IMC is indispensable, along with strong political leadership and accountability towards citizens.
  • IMC is gradually gaining acceptance in Ukraine, with the total number of projects implemented increasing from 43 in July 2016 to 85 in July 2017. Areas of co-operation are focused on local road repair, solid waste disposal, local infrastructure, dams, and coastal fortifications. 
  • The main challenges for IMC in Ukraine include low awareness; limited experience in initiating, organising and implementing projects; limited financial capacity; a lack of trust among municipalities and insufficient support from higher levels of government.
  • Key drivers of success in Ukraine's IMC projects include financial support and incentives, good management and organisation, and support from the regional government. However, awareness of the IMC legislation seems to be low, particularly among higher levels of subnational government, and there is an absence of good practice examples within Ukraine for municipalities to learn from one another.
  • IMC can help Ukraine's newly amalgamated communities to combat legislative instability (e.g. the recent reduction in excise tax revenues), circumvent barriers imposed by the current legal environment, and reduce the risk of unfunded mandates.

 

DOCUMENTATION

AGENDA


 

 

English Ukrainian    

 

3RD OECD SEMINAR: ENHANCING PUBLIC INVESTMENT ACROSS LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT

The third seminar in a series being held as part of the OECD project Supporting Decentralisation in Ukraine, was held in Lviv on 22 June 2017. It explored how the OECD’s Recommendation of the Council on Effective Public Investment across Levels of Government (Ukrainian) can help Ukraine strengthen subnational finance and investment practices in the context of the country’s ongoing decentralisation reform. The audience included representatives of national and subnational administrations from throughout Ukraine, policy practitioners, think tanks, associations and members of the international donor community involved in Ukraine’s decentralisation reform.

Read more about the third seminar...

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2ND SEMINAR: STRENGTHENING THE SUB-NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP

The second seminar was held in Mykolaiv on 5 March, 2017. Ukrainian sub-national officials, policy makers and other stakeholders shared their experience in decentralisation reform and its impact with respect to administrative capacity, investment capacity and service delivery capacity, particularly at the local level. In addition, participants discussed the “pros and cons” of amalgamation, and their objectives for sector decentralisation. The seminar provided an opportunity for those gathered to hear how municipal officials are meeting the challenges and seizing the opportunities associated with decentralisation.

Read more about the second seminar…

 

1ST SEMINAR: DECENTRALISATION IN UKRAINE: SHARING OECD COUNTRY EXPERIENCES

The first seminar in the series was held on 26-27 January 2017 in Kyiv. The seminar, organised by the Ministry of Regional Development of Ukraine and the OECD focused on recent decentralisation and territorial reforms in Ukraine and in OECD countries. In the context of the subnational reform process underway in Ukraine (fiscal decentralisation, municipal amalgamation, and stronger inter-municipal cooperation), the seminar presented the experiences of selected OECD countries (Sweden, Poland, France and the Netherlands) and Colombia (an OECD accession country) in implementing decentralisation and territorial reforms, as well as approaches to regional development policy, more broadly.

Read more about the first seminar...

 

1ST STUDY VISIT: SUPPORTING LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICE, SUBNATIONAL FINANCES AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: INSIGHTS FROM FLANDERS

The first study visit for the project was held on 24-27 April 2017 in Brussels and Ghent, Belgium. It combined a series of bilateral meetings with regional and municipal authorities, visits to EU and Flemish institutions, as well as focus groups with Flemish stakeholders, to discuss the challenges and the lessons learnt for regional and city planning, regional development, service delivery and public finance management at sub-national level.

Read more about the first study visit...

 

oecd recommendation of the council on effective public investment across levels of government

English Ukrainian


Contact

For more information contact Dorothée Allain-Dupré, email: dorothee.allain-dupre@oecd.org or Varinia Michalun, email: mariavarinia.michalun@oecd.org.

 

 

 

 

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