On 10-11 June 2018 in Bolhrad district (Odesa region), Ukraine, a cascade of events dedicated to the local self-government reform and municipal amalgamation were organised by the Council of Europe through its Programme “Decentralisation and local government reform in Ukraine”: workshop with local authorities and activists from Bolhrad district and a high-level Forum on “Reform of Local Government and Territorial Organisation of Power in the South-West part of Odesa region: state of affairs and prospects”. In addition, the round table discussion on the new governmental draft law “On principles of administrative and territorial structure” took place. Head of Department of Democratic Governance Mr Daniel POPESCU took part in the above-mentioned events, during the latter he presented the recent Council of Europe Legal opinion on the draft Law of Ukraine (CELGR/LEX(2018)4) which was strongly appreciated by the Ukrainian partners and recognised as the one favouring discussions among the Ukrainian members of the Parliament and useful for further improvement of the draft law in line with the European standards. 

Discussion within the Forum with participation of more than 170 persons, mainly local leaders from South-West part of Odesa region, focused on the on-going reform in Ukraine, monitoring of its progress (presented by First Deputy Minister of Regional Development Mr Viacheslav NEHODA), existing legal framework and further plans for its development (presented by Member of the Parliament of Ukraine-Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Local Self-Government  Mr Serhiy KUDLAIENKO), success stories of amalgamated communities, the status of the reform implementation in Odesa region, current state of sectoral decentralisation.

The events were organised in close co-operation with the Council of Europe national partners: Ministry of Regional Development, line Parliamentary Committee, Odesa regional authorities and the NGO “Civil Society Institute”. The Council of Europe has been supporting such discussions within the on-going and the previous Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine and it is planned to continue support to the reform processes with specific focus on Odesa region, Bolhrad rayon.

To see the photo gallery of the Forum click here.