SOUTH-WESTERN BORDERLAND OF UKRAINE IN THE PROCESS OF STATE DECENTRALIZATION

Abstract

The presented study is aimed at establishing the features of the transformation of the local self-government system in the regions of the south-western border of Ukraine in the context of the decentralization reform of 2014-2020 and at establishing the correspondence of the system being created to the goals of the decentralization reform. The objectives of the study are to analyze the goals and state of the decentralization reform in Ukraine in the context of compliance with European standards of decentralized multilevel public administration; determination of the structural features of reforming the system of local self-government in the border regions of Ukraine; balancing the system of local expectations and the results of reforms by the second half of 2020. The object of the analysis is the border regions of Ukraine, the multiethnic composition and peculiarities of the location of which affect the imbalance of the system of local expectations and the results of the decentralization reform, as mainly the optimization of self-government bodies. Among them: Odessa region (bordering Moldova and Romania), Chernivtsi region (bordering Moldova and Romania), Transcarpathian region (bordering Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland), Vinnytsia region (bordering Moldova), Ivano-Frankivsk region ( bordering Romania). The study is based on the use of a systemic, comparative and structural-functional approach, combined with methods of analysis, analogy, abstraction, generalization and the method of individual expert assessment. Identifying the shortcomings of the reform creates an opportunity to revise the mechanisms to ensure a balance between the processes of decentralization and centralization in order to better integrate regions and minorities into decision-making processes in order to ensure internal stability in Ukraine.