PM Groysman announces second stage of decentralization reform

The corresponding decision was made at a government meeting on Wednesday, January 23.

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Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman says the Cabinet of Ministers has approved an action plan to implement the second stage of the ongoing decentralization reform.

The corresponding decision was made at a government meeting on Wednesday, January 23.

According to Groysman, the plan should be a roadmap for ministries and departments to pursue the reform in the country, while the main result of the second stage should be the holding of local elections in 2020 in line with the new principles.

"The new plan requires from us the same kind of mobilization," he said.

The reform's second stage sets seven tasks to be solved, in particular, the approval of a new territorial base.

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In addition, it is proposed to transfer a number of powers to local councils on the principle of subsidiarity, create an appropriate resource base, form an effective system of service in local governments, as well as streamline the state system of control and supervision.

The prime minister also announced that the first stage of Ukraine's decentralization reform had been completed.

"We passed the first stage of the decentralization reform within five years. We are able to start a new stage, which will be based on new solutions to complete the tasks we faced. And we need to ensure the irreversibility of the reform," he stressed.

Today, there are 876 communities in Ukraine, accounting for 68% of the country's population, including people living in regional centers.

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