During the International Cohesion Forum, a panel discussion titled “Reforms for a Better Future” took place. The focus of the discussion was on public investment management reform.

The panel included Oleksii Riabykin, Deputy Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, Mathieu Maury, Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Denys Ulyutin, First Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine, Oleksii Sobolev, First Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Vitalii Bezgin, People's Deputy of Ukraine, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Administrative-Territorial Structure and Local Self-Government of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning, Stefan Schleuning, Head of the Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Pavlo Ostapenko, Chairman of the NGO "Society of Ukrainian Researchers".

During his speech, Oleksii Riabykin noted that despite the ongoing war, now is the best time to implement reforms in Ukraine. He also emphasized that communities are already creating investment projects, which is a positive indicator of the implementation of the public investment management reform.

“Cohesion has very different levels. Human, in communities, at the national level. In this context, it is extremely important that everyone who creates and implements important reforms for the state be together and hold discussions. The result of this is useful changes, primarily for people. After all, at the center of every reform is a person. All our efforts should be aimed precisely at ensuring that people feel the result. And as quickly as possible. There is no better time for reforms than the present. Today, Ukraine demonstrates not only resilience, but also a thirst for change, and most importantly, it is implementing these changes. Over the past month, we have been selecting real community investment projects within the framework of the Recovery Program of Ukraine. These projects fully correspond to the strategic plans for community development. We can consider this as evidence that the public investment management reform is working. This is very important, because without real mechanisms, including financial ones, the implementation of reforms will remain at the level of concepts,” said Oleksii Riabykin.

During his speech, Denys Ulyutin spoke in detail about the public investment management reform. He noted that the reform opened up the opportunity for communities to independently determine their priorities and form investment projects in accordance with them.

“Previously, it was difficult to control investments. There was no system that would make them transparent and understandable. Now we have moved away from this. We have a single portfolio for managing public investments. The law also already defines a public investment project. These expenses are clearly separated from other budget expenditures. This means that they are a full-fledged separate category of state expenditures. At the same time, there is a popular myth that the reform centralizes the adoption of relevant decisions. However, this is not true. All investments will take place at the community level. At the same time, all investment projects should be implemented and created at the community level. This should be the result of comprehensive recovery planning: communities should develop strategic plans, determine their priorities and direction of development. The reform allows communities to make decisions independently, and that is why it is important primarily for them,” noted the First Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine.

Oleksii Sobolev, taking the floor, also emphasized that the reform provided the opportunity for clear prioritization of projects. Previously, there were difficulties with this. Now a project preparation framework has been created - a clear mechanism for selecting and preparing projects. He also noted that after selection, community projects will be included in the Unified Project Portfolio.

In his speech, Vitalii Bezgin emphasized that, in addition to clear strategic planning and project creation, community cooperation for their implementation is extremely important.

“We must understand that now, when we talk about strategic planning, we are talking about a very short term — until 2027. Communities are currently completing their strategizing. Next, it will be important for these plans to turn into real projects. For this, the cohesion of communities, their ability to work together and create joint initiatives will become extremely important. The “Plich-o-Plich” project shows us that it is absolutely possible for communities to jointly implement projects. Thanks to the reform, we have finally come to allocate resources to what is truly a priority. Reform and real strategies for regional and local development are a civilized European approach. However, it will also be important for us to ensure transparent use of funds. This is about the trust of international partners and ensuring that finances go exactly where they are needed,” the People’s Deputy of Ukraine noted.

The event was organized by the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with financial support from the Government of Japan.

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