Voluntary Association Of Territorial Communities Research Articles

The ability of financial support of the educational sphere in the process of financial decentralization of the region: economic and legal aspect

The article considers the possibility of optional implementation of financial and educational decentralization approaches in Ukraine. The strategic role of CMU Order No. 333-r dated April 1, 2014 on the approval of the Concept of Reforming Local Self-Government and Territorial Organization of Power in Ukraine as a conceptual measure of financial and educational transformations is outlined. The legal status and legal options of educational self-government at the level of OTG are defined in accordance with the national "normative basis of decentralization": the Law of Ukraine "On the Voluntary Association of Territorial Communities" No. 157-VIII, the Law of Ukraine "On the Principles of State Regional Policy" No. 156-VIII, etc., as well as relevant legislation (the Law of Ukraine "On Education" No. 2145- VIII of the Law of Ukraine "On Higher Education" No. 1556-VII, etc.).
 A terminological distinction between the concepts of "power decentralization" and "financial decentralization of the region" is proposed. The problem of budgetary and educational provision of scientific and educational facilities is conceptualized spheres in Ukraine through the prism of the Budget Code of Ukraine No. 2456-VI.
 Examples of foreign decentralization-educational (management and financial) support are presented and implementation methods of its application in Ukraine are proposed.
 The ideological problem is that the decentralization of power presupposes, among other things, the financial independence of the region (one of the principles of decentralization is the transfer of resources from the ODF to the OMS), and the issue of its provision is problematic for a country that is used to building financial and economic relations by the "vertical" principle, i.e. "from top to bottom".
 Taking into account the dependent connection of the educational sphere in Ukraine on the accompanying and sectoral legislation, such trends, without having a direct impact on the volume and expenditure mechanisms of scientific and educational support from the State Budget of Ukraine, create a precedent of institutional and jurisdictional inconsistency.
 The issue of financial support for higher education and directly – institutions of higher education (HEIs) has several problems, among which “financing of expenses for the maintenance of HEIs, not the actual cost of the educational process” stands out; calculation of budget transfers only in the amount of "educational needs" (without cultural and sports and social assistance initiatives of the development and education self-government); inadequate financial and logistical support of vocational education as a subcomponent and pregenerator of higher education in Ukraine.

ПРИНЦИПИ ДОБРОВІЛЬНОГО ОБ’ЄДНАННЯ ТЕРИТОРІАЛЬНИХ ГРОМАД В УКРАЇНІ

The article is devoted to the characteristics of the principles of voluntary association of territorial communities in Ukraine. The principles of voluntary association of territorial communities (OTG) in Ukraine, their essence, content and main tasks in the legal relations of formation and functioning of united communities and reorganization of local governments on the basis of their decentralization are studied. The features of the principles of voluntary association of territorial communities are proposed, which include: a) their constitutional and legislative consolidation, taking into account the rule of law; b) contain the basic ideas of the municipal government and are formed voluntarily; c) act independently with the support of the state and under their own responsibility; d) ensure the realization of the rights and freedoms and common interests of the inhabitants of a certain administrative-territorial unit. The principles of voluntary association of territorial communities are enshrined in the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, taking into account the rule of law, the main ideas of voluntary association of villagers, settlements, cities, designed to exercise municipal authority independently and through their representatives with the support state and ensure the rights and freedoms of the inhabitants of a particular administrative-territorial unit. In order to improve the legal regulation of the principles of voluntary association of territorial communities, we propose to amend the Law of Ukraine of February 5, 2015 "On voluntary association of territorial communities." The words "rule of law" should be preceded by the words "rule of law". As a result of Art. 2 item 1, item 1) should be formulated: "rule of law, constitutionality and legality", and item 7) «responsibility and ensuring human and civil rights and freedoms».

Організація соціально-економічного розвитку територіальних громад

Abstract. Introduction. Participants of the territorial community are united by a common territory of permanent residence, social interaction with each other, common territorial interests and needs of local significance, self-identification, common values and historical events, communal property, etc. Purpose. The purpose of the article is to deepen the theoretical and methodological foundations of the organization of socio-economic development of territorial communities. Results. The main shortcomings in the functioning of territorial communities are highlighted, among which: the presence of differences in the priority needs of communities and actions by local authorities to meet them; lack of a coordinated feedback mechanism with the local population; insufficient level of quality of services provided by local authorities; insufficient number of employees in local authorities. It is emphasized that the introduction of equal programs of socio-economic development is not rational because each region or community needs special, specialized actions by the authorities. The principles on the basis of which the voluntary association of territorial communities in Ukraine is formed are determined, among which: constitutionality and legality of the process of association of territorial communities; voluntariness of the subjects of the association; economic efficiency; state support; ubiquity of local self-government; transparency and openness; responsibility. Factors influencing the development, approval and implementation of programs of economic and social development of individual territorial communities are systematized, namely: political; ecological; financial and economic; social and others. Conclusions. It was found that the list of indicators of socio-economic development of the united territorial community should contain indicators that characterize the demographic situation; economic efficiency of the united territorial community; financial self-sufficiency; quality and availability of public services; creating comfortable living conditions. The structural elements of the plan of socio-economic development of the united territorial community are considered and it is emphasized that the main results of the plan of development of the territorial community should be published in regional media in order to adhere to the principles of transparency, openness and transparency.

FUNCTIONING OF UNITED TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES AND IDENTIFICATION OF MAIN PROBLEMS OF ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT OF LOCAL BUDGET MANAGEMENT

The importance of the study of the united territorial communities functioning and the identification of the main problems of organizational support of local budget management are substantiated. It has been studied that the issues related to the development of organizational support of local budget management are insufficiently researched in the domestic scientific literature. The paper clarifies that the decentralization of government should ensure the democratization of society, combine administrative, political, fiscal decentralization and involves the transformation of the interaction between governmental agencies and citizens, NGOs and businesses. The regulatory framework for the reform process is provided. Problems of united territorial communities development are identified. One of the first of them is the problem of proper implementation of the territorial community functions, which is intertwined with the filling of the UTC budget, the formation of financial resources sufficient to adequately finance the urgent social needs of communities based on the principle of subsidiarity, implementation of their economic and technological development. Conditions for the formation of able-bodied territorial communities are provided. The own and delegated powers of the united territorial communities in Ukraine are studied. The factors and subjects of ensuring the financial capacity of territorial communities are singled out and generalized. As a result, the well-established interaction of the subjects of financial relations under the influence of both external and internal factors will help meet the legitimate needs and interests of local communities. The basic legislative bases of the mechanism of voluntary association of territorial communities are generalized. It is determined that the current state of local budgets does not seem to be the best, which hinders the complex tasks assigned to local authorities: scarcity of their own sources of income, almost complete dependence on the state budget, lack of transparency of budgetary relations in providing financial assistance from the center, additional assistance revenues and economic expenditure of budget funds. According to the analysis conducted by the authors, a set of problems of organizational support of local budgets is proposed.

ДЕКОМПОЗИТНИЙ АНАЛІЗ КООПЕРАЦІЇ ЯК ФАКТОРА ЕКОНОМІЧНОЇ ТРАНСФОРМАЦІЇ ТЕРИТОРІАЛЬНИХ ГРОМАД

The current economic situation poses new and more complex challenges to the country's economy. Local self-government plays an important role in strengthening statehood and its defense capabilities. The chosen strategy of European integration requires Ukraine to carry out reforms and gradually enter a highly competitive environment, and this is impossible without finding new tools to ensure sustainable local development. The development of cooperative relations might become an effective tool in becoming competitive territorial communities. The purpose of this study is to theoretically substantiate and build a conceptual model of cooperation in the territorial community, which involves the effective formation of cooperation at all subjective levels of the economy of the territorial community (local governments; villages, towns, and cities, businesses) and establishing a system interaction between them, which will intensify the processes of economic development of the territorial community by optimizing the potential internal resources. A comprehensive approach to the formation of the concept of cooperative relationships at different subject levels of the territorial community is proposed. It is represented as a two-level conceptual model of cooperation relations of the territorial community, which contains cooperation both at inter-municipal and intra-municipal levels. The scientific novelty of our approach is to take into account the impact on economic growth and sustainable development of the factor of cooperation not only in the form of inter-municipal and international cooperation but also cooperation at the enterprise level in the form of cooperatives. In addition, we have taken into account the processes of cooperation between rural and urban communities during the voluntary association of territorial communities.

Encouragement of scientific development of modern, economical anti-missile defense systems principles against expensive ignition-artillery and other means as a direction in the modern military conditions of Ukraine (information-cognitive and scientific-encouraging aspects of improving the defense doctrine of Ukraine in the conditions of russian aggression)

The article, based on the primary analysis, revealed high cost and low efficiency and contradictions in the functioning of the anti-aircraft, especially anti-missile defence of Ukraine during hostilities. It is suggested to clarify the terminological apparatus in this specific sphere of defence activity of society. The problem is considered both in the global and international, as well as regional, branch military conditions of the functioning of the voluntary association of territorial communities of Ukraine, territorial defence, etc. It is noted that air defence is carried out by air defence troops of land units and fighter aircraft in cooperation with air defence troops of the country, and in the case of hostilities in the area of the sea coast – with air defence units of the navy. It is established that most Western and European Commonwealth armed combine air defence exclusively with conventional forces (i.e., army, navy and air force), as a separate wing, or as part of the artillery. It is assumed that from a practical point of view, Ukraine may need ground air defence more than aviation. In the paper the interrelationships of the development of the air defence system within the framework of the development of the European Commonwealth in the interstate context are revealed. On this basis, the trends of this process are established and offered to use of modern economic European approaches to the organization of antimissile defence on the latest economic and environmental principles and the implementation of reforms in Ukraine in accordance with the modern requirements of European standards. The progressive experience of anti-aircraft protection of the population, the peculiarities of the operation of the “Iron Dome” and the issues of defence of the state maritime zone, for which the "M-dome" is used, are described. The economic characteristics of air defence with the use of anti-missile installations are given. It was emphasized that, like any other weapon, “Iron Dome” should not be considered as a separate unit, because all military equipment and weapons work in a single system.

RURAL TERRITORIES AND THEIR PLACE IN THE SYSTEM OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATE AND REGIONS

Introduction. The study of rural areas is an important mission in the development of socio-economic systems of the state and its territories. Transformational changes that have taken place in the process of reforming the national economy and as a result of changes in the administrative-territorial structure of the country require the determination of the location of each component of its territories. Of particular importance is the study of rural areas, where the agricultural sector has a place in the vector of development. The latter determines the standard of living of the population of rural areas and forms a significant share and role in the system of socio-economic development of the state and its regions. The purpose of this article is to research of theoretical and methodological bases of formation of rural territories and their place in the system of social and economic development of the state and regions. Results. Studies have shown that the primary link, the center of rural areas is a rural settlement. Therefore, in our opinion, the key criteria for determining the rural area are administrative-territorial and self-governing. Thus, a rural area is one that is within the jurisdiction of territorial communities of rural (urban) settlements and includes agricultural and non-agricultural lands. This approach has a normative basis – the Law of Ukraine "On Local Self-Government in Ukraine" and the Law of Ukraine "On Voluntary Association of Territorial Communities". Conclusions. The importance of rural areas in the socio-economic development of the country is not limited to social factors. After all, despite the high potential for the development of non-agricultural activities in the future, currently rural areas are the center of agricultural production, which is a strategic sector of the national economy. The agrarian economy performs the most important function in the system of ensuring socio-economic stability of rural development of the state and its regions. Keywords: rural areas, economic development, agrarian reform, agriculture, transport infrastructure.

The impact of the completion of voluntary association of territorial communities on the implementation of cooperation in Ukraine

The article is devoted to the research of institutes of cooperation and association of territorial communities in Ukraine. The main purpose of the article is to find out the essence of cooperation and association of territorial communities in Ukraine, their characteristics and their relationship, as well as the impact of the completion of community mobilization on the implementation of cooperation.In 2014, the Government of Ukraine launched a large-scale reform of local self-government, which, in particular, provides for the transfer of greater powers from the central government to local governments, expanding their resource base and more. In this regard, the issues of development of cooperation of territorial communities as an effective and flexible tool for ensuring the capacity of territorial communities and sustainable local development are of particular importance. As the experience of other countries shows, the cooperation of territorial communities cannot be considered as a one-time action, but as a set of actions (organizational, legal, institutional, managerial, etc..)The main legal basis for the development of the institute under study was the adoption of a special Law of Ukraine «On Cooperation of Territorial Communities», № 1508 - VII of June 17, 2014 (hereinafter - the Law № 1508 - VII, 2014.
 According to which, the basic concepts of the institution of cooperation, its principles, subjects, organization, forms and procedure for termination are regulated. However, the practical implementation of its instructions has identified an urgent need for a comprehensive study of the institution of cooperation of territorial communities. After all, the latter faced a number of inaccuracies in the conceptual apparatus of cooperation, participation in its organization and lack of public control over its implementation, unclear monitoring by the state and its participation in cooperation, but without specific powers to stop abuses of cooperation, with inability to join already to the existing cooperation, with the general standard forms of agreements on cooperation in which risks of all parties of the agreement are not considered.The undeniable function of this institution is to improve the quality and comfort of members of territorial communities, ie their inhabitants by solving common problems of communities. Along with this, it is necessary to highlight another of its special functions - it is to promote the process of unification of territorial communities, which is traced from foreign experience.But if we analyze the chronology of the stages of decentralization reform, we can see with the naked eye that voluntary unification began simultaneously with cooperation, and how such «promotion» of cooperation in Ukraine did not happen. Instead, we have completely different from foreign functions and influences of these two institutions both on each other and on local self-government in general and territorial communities in particular.The completion of the process of unification of territorial communities and the creation of capable communities has created a number of obstacles to the implementation of the terms of cooperation agreements between their parties. For example, cooperating communities have joined the affluent, indicating their reorganization. Yes, affluent communities have become the successors of real estate, movables, property obligations, but within the balance of the latter. This means that if the successor does not decide to finance cooperation agreements, they will not be able to be completed and implemented in full. Note that the subject of most such agreements is the implementation of joint projects. As a rule, their conditions determine the need to involve contractors who are obliged to pay for the work performed.Based on such consequences of the completion of the process of unification of communities in Ukraine, there is a great need for prompt and comprehensive legislative changes to protect the institution of cooperation of territorial communities and its subjects.

Decentralization reform: land law aspect

In Ukraine, the reform of decentralization of power has been going on since 2014 – the transfer of a significant part of powers,finances, other resources and responsibilities from the state power as close as possible to the people – local governments.
 The process of voluntary association of territorial communities and formation of capable united territorial communities belongsto the same sphere. The issue of formation of the inseparable territory of OTG (requirement of Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine “OnVoluntary Association of Territorial Communities”) in the aspect of transfer of a significant part of state-owned lands to communal onesis still relevant, insufficiently regulated by law.It is absolutely necessary to analyze modern judicial practice. in cases related to the redistribution of state and communal landsduring decentralization, as it indicates the shortcomings of current legislation in this area. One of the tasks set by the Concept ofReforming Local Self-Government and Territorial Organization of Government is to determine a reasonable territorial basis for theactivities of local self-government bodies and executive bodies capable of ensuring the availability and proper quality of public servicesprovided by such bodies.Ways of transfer of lands to communal ownership are succession, methods of acquisition provided by item 5 of Art. 83 of theLand Code, transition to communal ownership of collectively owned lands in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Amendmentsto Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning Resolving the Issue of Collective Land Ownership, Improving Land Use Rules inAgricultural Land, Preventing Raids and Stimulating Irrigation in Ukraine”. Today, the so-called land audit, which differs significantlyfrom the land inventory and is carried out by non-governmental organizations on a commercial or grant basis, helps territorial communitiesto collect land “in a heap”.At the same time, the main, initial basis for the transfer of land to the ownership of territorial communities should be a largescaleone-time delimitation of state-owned land on land that remains in state ownership and land that becomes communal property.This is one of the tasks of the Draft Law № 2194 “On Amendments to the Land Code of Ukraine and Other Legislative Acts toImprove the System of Management and Deregulation in the Sphere of Land Relations”.

СОЦІАЛЬНО-ЕКОНОМІЧНІ ФАКТОРИ СТВОРЕННЯ ОБ’ЄДНАНИХ ТЕРИТОРІАЛЬНИХ ГРОМАД В УКРАЇНІ

Реформа децентралізації та процес формування спроможних територіальних громад є пріоритетним завданням уряду України. Реформа має на меті сформувати дієву систему місцевого самоврядування задля створення якісного середовища для життя людей, підвищення якості надання муніципальних послуг та забезпечення сталого розвитку регіонів. Реформа базується на європейських принципах організації місцевого самоврядування, що зумовило добровільний характер об’єднання територіальних громад. Було проведено значну підготовчу роботу з впровадження реформи, зокрема затверджено методику формування спроможних громад, що визначала, які соціально-економічні фактори слід ураховувати при ухваленні рішень про добровільне об’єднання та розробленні перспективних планів. Проте результати реформи станом на серпень 2018 року були не досить задовільними: було створено 753 об’єднані територіальні громади, які об’єднали 3 492 окремі місцеві спільноти, хоча відповідно до перспективних планів, затверджених Урядом для 23 областей, 7 913 наявних громад мали утворити 1 206 об’єднаних територіальних громад. Наше дослідження присвячено аналізові процесу добровільного об’єднання територіальних громад у контексті реалізації реформи децентралізації в Україні та виявленню соціально-економічних факторів, що цьому сприяють.
 У дослідженні було проведено факторний аналіз процесу добровільного об’єднання територіальних громад в Україні в період 2014—2017 рр., на підставі якого визначено соціально-економічні фактори, що є значущими при ухваленні громадами рішення про добровільне об’єднання. Дослідження проводилось за допомогою методу кореляційно-регресійного аналізу зі застосуванням програмного комплексу STATA, було оцінено вплив 24 демографічні та соціально-економічні фактори. Результати дослідження статистичних характеристик економетричних залежностей виявили, що такими факторами є: середній розмір площі землі одного домогосподарства; частка об’єднаних територіальних громад, створених у попередньому році; розмір паїв землі в одному домогосподарстві (своїх та орендованих) і розмір рівня прибутку фермерських господарств у районі.

Legislative regulation of local self-government of Ukrainian cities

After the proclamation of Ukraine’s independence in 1991, local self-government in Ukraine is not regulatedseparately for such administrative-territorial units as cities (exceptions are cities with a special status). Most authorsonly state this fact, but do not make constructive suggestions aimed at improving the situation.The purpose of the article is to consider and analyze the modern laws of Ukraine, which implemented the legalregulation of local self-government in the cities of Ukraine.The study of the laws of Ukraine regulating local self-government gave grounds to note that the peculiarities of localself-government in cities are fragmented in the Law “On Local Self-Government in Ukraine”, Electoral Code and arecompletely absent in such important laws-sources of municipal law as Law “On Voluntary Association of TerritorialCommunities”, “On the Status of Deputies of Local Councils”. Regarding the latest act, the following directionsof amendments aimed at differentiating the status of deputies of local councils of rural and urban settlements areproposed: differences in the rights and responsibilities of deputies of local councils and taking into account differentquantitative composition of local councils (depending on the number of members); accordingly – more or less complexinternal structure of local councils, their executive bodies.It is noted that with the adoption on February 5, 2015 of the Law “On Voluntary Association of TerritorialCommunities” at the present stage of municipal reform began to follow the trend of refusing to unify local governmentin urban and rural areas (in connection with the introduction of the institute of elders). Proposals for amendments toArt. 7 of this Law “Preparation of decisions on voluntary association of territorial communities” and on supplementingArt. 8 “Formation of a united territorial community” paragraph 1-1 in the proposed wording.

СТАН ТА ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ РЕФОРМУВАННЯ ТЕРИТОРІАЛЬНОЇ ОРГАНІЗАЦІЇ ВЛАДИ В УКРАЇНІ

The article considers the current state of decentralization reform and prospects for reforming the territorial organization of government in Ukraine. The need to reform local self-government, territorial organization of government and administrative-territorial organization is beyond doubt. In 2014, decentralization reform began in Ukraine, which is one of the most successful domestic reforms. Thus, in the first step, territorial communities were encouraged to unite through various forms of inter-municipal cooperation. The next step was the adoption of the Law of Ukraine On Voluntary Association of Territorial Communities. According to the norms of this Law, several territorial communities were united and one united territorial community was created. Due to the proposed changes in the legislation, communities have significantly increased managerial powers (education, culture, sports, medicine, etc.), and the state has provided not only the transfer of powers, but also the appropriate financial resources (medical subvention, educational subvention, other targeted transfers). At the beginning of 2020, the second stage of the reform began, as a result of which the renewed administrative-territorial structure of Ukraine at the basic level was approved. However, the functioning of 490 district state administrations in all administrative-territorial units of the district level of Ukraine remained unregulated. The need to update the legislation on local state administrations led to the submission of Bill №4298, which aims to create legal preconditions and foundations for the functioning of local state administrations of the prefectural type. As a conclusion of the research it can be noted that the change in the territorial organization of power is long overdue, certain decisions were made, but the level of such decisions did not ensure their full legitimacy in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine. Therefore, the adoption of the bill will continue the second stage of reform of local government and territorial organization of power. Key words: decentralization, reform of the territorial organization of government, inter-municipal cooperation, united territorial communities, local state administrations, prefects.

REFORM OF DECENTRALIZATION IN UKRAINE: NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT

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.

Actual issues of legal regulation of formation of budgets of the united territorial communities in Ukraine

Introduction. More than five years in Ukraine is the reform of decentralization of power, an important component of which is financial decentralization. The purpose of this reform is to improve the financial independence of local budgets and strengthening the role of local government. It is in the process of introducing the reform in 2015 in Ukraine was adopted the Law of Ukraine "On Voluntary Association of Territorial Communities", according to which envisages establishing of united territorial communities and the formation of their budgets. As a result of financial decentralization is transferring of significant amount of financial resources to the local level, allowing better fund the needs of the residents of the territorial community. Given this, it is relevant and important, is to research the peculiarities of legal regulation of the formation of the combined budgets of territorial communities in Ukraine and creating of favorable conditions for their financial solvency. The aim of the article. The purpose of this article is to elucidate the role and importance of budgets of the united territorial communities in the budgetary system of Ukraine, revealing features of their legal regulation in the context of financial decentralization, evaluation of methods of achieving their financial viability, development of proposals on improvement of legislation in this area. Results. Amendments to the Budget Code of Ukraine, according to which budgets of the united territorial communities were included to the budgetary system of Ukraine, were adopted in 2015. The basis for mentioned above amendments to the Budget Code of Ukraine was adoption on the eve of the Law of Ukraine "On Voluntary Association of Territorial Communities". The notion of "the united budgets of territorial communities" has been determined in the Budget Code of Ukraine since 2017 as the combined budgets of territorial communities established in accordance with the law and a long-term plan of formation of territories of communities, as well as the budgets of the consolidated territorial communities recognized by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in the manner prescribed by law. Definition of "capable territorial communities" as territorial communities of villages (settlements, cities) that, through voluntary association, are able to provide, on their own or through the relevant local authorities, an appropriate level of service provision, especially in the fields of education, culture, health, of social protection, housing and communal services, taking into account the human resources, financial support and infrastructure development of the respective administrative-territorial unit, is contained in the Methodology of formation of capable territorial communities. When forming a promising unified territorial community is an important preliminary calculation of its financial viability, which allows you to evaluate the benefits and risks of such associations, to determine the need for additional funds and streamline costs. Methodological recommendations for the calculation of the financial solvency of united territorial community were prepared for the proper assessment of the said ability. It gives the possibility to model the prospective budget of the community, determines the necessity of analysis of reserves to balance revenues and expenditures, and encourages association in financial viable community. Conclusions. As a result of financial decentralization is appearance in the structure of the budget system of Ukraine a new important element – the budgets of united territorial communities. Such the structural changes of budget system are in line with the trends in the developed democratic states of the world, and therefore should be considered as important, progressive and aimed at achieving financial solvency of local self-government. The budgets of the united territorial communities have number of special characteristics of the formation, must be financially solvent, that today is one of the important problems that need to be resolved. One of the main features of formation of budgets of the united territorial communities is that they have direct interbudget relations with the State Budget of Ukraine. To the budgets of the united territorial community (hereinafter mentioned as UTC), in addition to their main income, is credited 60 percent of the tax to incomes of physical persons. The budgets of the UTC, in addition to the cost of exercising self-governing powers, also finance the expenditure delegated by the state. To improve the efficiency to resolve budget issues of united territorial communities it is extremely important to urgently develop of Methodical recommendations on planning and execution of the budget, control the accounting and financial management, and so on. The issues of ensuring the financial viability of UTC budgets are extremely important and need further refinement of the mechanisms to achieve this.

Current state of legal regulation of voluntary association of territorial communities

Current state of legal regulation of voluntary association of territorial communities

Tax decentralization under local government reform conditions

The primary objective of the paper is to investigate the main directions of decentralization reform, trends in local budget revenues in Ukraine, to assess the impact of decentralization reform on the structure and composition of local budgets financial resources, to identify the ways of their optimization. The main components of decentralization reform, the main practical results of territorial and fiscal decentralization in Ukraine are formulated in this paper. Analysis of the development of voluntary territorial communities association in the country during the last five years is carried out. The principles of public administration and the development of normative regulation of local self-government, voluntary association of territorial communities and their cooperation are investigated. It is determined that the practical result of administrative-territorial decentralization is to ensure the creation of new capable territorial entities – united territorial communities. The practical result of tax decentralization is the increase of financial capacity of the united territorial communities. The dynamics of the share of local taxes and fees in own revenues of the general local budgets fund is considered, special attention is paid to such national tax as personal income tax. The dependence of local budgets on transfers from the state budget is noted. And all this on the basis of achievement the ratio of state and local budget revenues of most EU countries is 50:50. The directions of reducing the risk of financial unreliability of local governments under COVID-19 conditions are determined. The difficulties of tax administration of large taxpayers; the main factors determining the size of the shadow economy in the country are investigated. There is no direct relationship between the level of taxation in Ukraine and the level shadow economy. The assessment of the extent of concealment and incomplete reporting of domestic businesses according to the survey in the framework of the SHADOW project is made. The consequences of increasing shadow economy share in the country are determined. The experience of several European countries in personal income taxation is studied, the peculiarities of granting the right to apply the social tax benefit from the personal income tax is determined. Recommendations for optimizing the taxation of individuals in terms of taxation of dividends are provided in this paper.

Regulatory provisions on forming and functioning of united territorial communities

Regulatory provisions on forming and functioning of united territorial communities

LEGAL SUPPORT OF THE MUNICIPAL REFORM IN UKRAINE

The article analyzes the legal support of the reform of public authority decentralization in Ukraine. In this regard, we have indicated the normative legal acts, which laid the conceptual foundations of the municipal reform, in particular, the Concept for the Reform of Local Self-Government and Territorial Organization of Power in Ukraine, approved by the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of April 1, 2014, the Law of Ukraine «On Principles of State Regional Policy» of February 5, 2015, «Strategy − 2020», approved by the Decree of the President of Ukraine of January 15, 2015, No. 5/2015. Also, attention is focused on the Draft Law of Ukraine «On Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine (with regard to the decentralization of power)», previously approved by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on August 31, 2015, the final adoption of which is unjustifiably delayed. We have also indicated the legislative acts which created the legal basis for the formation of economically and financially viable territorial communities, as well as enhanced the process of community consolidation, in particular, the Law of Ukraine «On Cooperation of Territorial Communities» of June 17, 2014 and the Law of Ukraine «On Voluntary Association of Territorial Communities» of February 5, 2015, as amended. However, particular attention is paid to characterizing the draft legislative acts, which are to be addressed and adopted by the Parliament at the earliest possible time to successfully promote the local self-government reform, as well as to complete the process of association of territorial communities in Ukraine. In particular, it refers to the Law of Ukraine «On Principles of the Administrative and Territorial Order of Ukraine», the Law of Ukraine «On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine «On Voluntary Association of Territorial Communities (with regard to the perspective plans for the formation of territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, regions)», the Law of Ukraine «On Amendments to the Law «On Regulation of Urban Development», the Law of Ukraine «On the Amendments to the Law of Ukraine «On Service in Bodies of Local Self-Government», the Law of Ukraine «On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine «On Civil Registration» and some other legislative acts of Ukraine on decentralization and bringing administrative services in the civil registration sphere closer to citizens.» We have concluded that, based on the real configuration of affairs regarding the formation of capable communities in Ukraine and taking into account foreign experience, it is considered appropriate to complete the municipal reform by administrative means by the next local elections in 2020.

Reasonable territorial basis for the activity of local self-government bodies and executive authorities: issues of identifying

The article gives a critical analysis of some studies and suggestions on the content of the reform of the administrative-territorial system of Ukraine. Analysis of the draft Law of Ukraine Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine (Regarding the Decentralization of Power) was provided. The preconditions and the expected result of the voluntary association of in the process of constructing a substantiated basis for the activities of local self-government bodies and executive authorities are determined. The result should be the creation of a basic level of administrative-territorial system - a «gromada» (community), several will form a district. The content and condition of observance of conditions of the voluntary association of are analyzed, on the basis of which it is proposed to supplement the Law of Ukraine voluntary association of communities in the part of the consequences of violation of the conditions of the association of communities. As a consequence, it is proposed to recognize the invalidity of the decision on the voluntary association of communities. The necessity of the introduction of conditions for the association of communities, aimed at adhering to the proportionality with regard to the size of the territories and population, was determined. On the basis of the analysis of the provisions of the Law of Ukraine Voluntary Association of Territorial Communities, a distinction was made between the concepts community and territorial community. The problem of uniting in all of the district is proposed to be resolved by joining a district, in which there is only one community, to one of the neighboring districts, followed by the liquidation of district councils and the conduct of elections to the newly formed district council

Influence of administrative and financial decentralization on changing the positioning of cities in the economy of the Carpathian region

Socio-economic implications of the voluntary association of territorial communities at the administrative and financial decentralization final stage and the expected reformatting of the administrative and territorial structure of Ukrainian regions create favorable conditions for the growth of cities’ economic power and their role in the development of regions and the country as a whole. It is worth noting that without strong regional centers it is difficult to develop strong regions. The main purpose of the article is to determine the features of the impact of administrative and financial decentralization on changing the cities’ positioning in the Carpathian region’s socio-economic system, as well as to outline the perspective directions of their development in the new administrative-territorial and financial system of Ukrainian regions. In particular, the article outlines the main reasons that cause the low activity of cities in the region during the implementation of administrative and financial decentralization in 2015-2017. The potential threats to the spatial development of the Carpathian region cities as a result of administrative-territorial and budgetary system reformatting are highlighted, as well as possible ways for their effective settlement are defined. The features of the cities’ positioning in the economy of regions and districts as administrative and financial decentralization result in 2015-2017 convincingly testify that the Carpathian region centers and cities of regional significance are those “centers of growth” that most actively influence the process of socio-economic development in their areas, including due to the benefits of fiscal decentralization. In the long run, uniting around the cities of regional significance and effective cooperation of regional centers with neighboring united territorial communities can intensify the process of urban development, open up opportunities for balancing the interests of these cities as growth centers and suburban territorial communities interested in improving the quality of their inhabitants’ life.