“The legal framework is the basis of the stability and development in Ukraine; the Congress stands ready to provide the support to all levels of government in improving this basis. Our interventions are complementary to other initiatives and efforts in supporting local elected representatives in enhancing their skills and knowledge to efficiently deal with challenges that they face in their day to day work” stated Congress Vice-President Gunn Marit HELGESEN at the 5th meeting of the CoR Task Force on Ukraine which brought together Ukrainian and international stakeholders to discuss achievements and challenges of the decentralisation reform in Ukraine, focusing in particular on local economic development and peer-to-peer co-operation.

The meeting was chaired by Deputy Minister of regional development, construction, housing and communal services of Ukraine Vyacheslav NEHODA and Markku MARKKULA, First Vice-President President of the European Committee of the Regions.

In his closing address, Congress Secretary General Andreas KIEFER referred to the synergies and common objectives shared by the Congress and the Committee of Regions. He praised a genuine, solid and a long-standing partnership between the two organisations, and invited all present stakeholders to “work together in Ukraine in driving the decentralisation forward and building citizens’ confidence in territorial governance.”