REFORM OF DECENTRALIZATION IN UKRAINE: NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Decentralization is the transfer of powers and budget revenues from state bodies to local governments. The purpose of local government reform is, first of all, to ensure its ability to independently, at its own expense, to address issues of local importance. Carrying out decentralization reform in the future will allow overcoming the dependence of territories on the center, infrastructural and financial weakness of communities, degradation of rural areas, high level of community subsidies, low level of investment attractiveness of territories. The normative and legislative acts that should ensure the implementation of decentralization reform are considered. The importance of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on April 1, 2014 adopted the Concept of Reforming Local Self-Government and Territorial Organization of Power in Ukraine, approval of the Action Plan for its implementation, principles of state regional policy and State Strategy for Regional Development until 2020, adoption of laws “ On Territorial Cooperation Communities ” and “ On Voluntary Association of Territorial Communities ”, approval of the Methodology for Forming Capable Territorial Communities have been emphasized. The dynamics of creation of united territorial communities has been analyzed. In total, 1469 territorial communities have been created in Ukraine, where 41 902,4 thousand people live on the territory of 603,7 thousand square meters. A decrease in quantitative changes is determined on the basis of an increase in the accrual of taxes and fees on the dynamics of changes in local budgets' own revenues. Due to the transfer of certain taxes and fees to local budgets, the share of local taxes and fees in local budgets' own revenues increased from 0,7% in 2014 to 27,5% in 2019. The share of local budgets' own revenues (general fund) in GDP is also growing (from 5,1% in 2015 to 6,7% in 2020). Own revenues of the general fund of local budgets increased from UAH 98,2 billion in 2015 to UAH 291,9 billion in 2020 (approved plan). The main tasks to be fulfilled as a result of decentralization reform are defined: creation of capable united territorial communities, delimitation of powers in the system of local self-government bodies and executive bodies at different levels of administrative-territorial structure, promotion of direct democracy, development of control mechanisms on the quality of providing administrative, social and other services to the population of the community, creating sufficient material and financial conditions to ensure the implementation of tasks by local governments. Key words: decentralization, budget decentralization, local budgets, united territorial communities, local budget revenues, taxes and fees, intergovernmental transfers.