Ousting the bureaucracy

“Like any ambitious European capital Kyiv has to use modern technologies, improve the conditions for doing business and people’s access to the local authorities.” With this declaration Deputy Head of the Kyiv Municipality Oleksandr Puzanov started his account concerning the program of the electronic government creation that will be launched next year.

According to him, for this there will be created in Kyiv the regional center “Electronic Capital” where the electronic keys will be created in order to secure the legitimacy of the information transmitted. There will be a common Internet portal of the Kyiv territorial community that exists today but, as Puzanov emphasized, “the full package will provide wider possibilities.” It will have the complete information about the state and local authorities and all the services they provide. The people will be able to use this portal to hand in applications, receive the replies and permits (for example, for redesigning their flats or houses) and even pay for the services received comprising the municipal payments without contacting the officials.

The residents of Kyiv might also like the electronic system called “Medical Space.” According to Puzanov, it is planned that every resident of Kyiv will have a possibility to use it to create an electronic “medical card” with the record of medical history, analyses and diagnoses. This system is supposed to eliminate the queues in the hospitals since it will allow making appointments with doctors and receiving invitations.

Other important electronic management facilities will be the general plan and touristic Kyiv. The whole electronic management system will be introduced in Kyiv in 2014. However, the system of the electronic documents circulation will beу launched by the end of 2012 (Puzanov informed The Day that the papers in the bureaucratic circulation will move simultaneously and not successively that will allow to reduce the term of documents endorsement to 10 days).

In general, it is planned to allocate 85 million hryvnias for the electronic management program from the city budget. The executors will be chosen through a tender. In order to switch to the electronic management system the experience of Singapore, Estonia and the US is being used. Head of the Kyiv Municipality Oleksandr Popov is studying the experience of Japan, in particular the one of Kyoto where this system has been functioning for decades.

Are the Kyiv authorities going to sit on their hands and wait for the system to start working? According to Puzanov, they realize that nothing seek, nothing find. In particular, the deputy city mayor shared the sensational information with the journalists. “On Monday we received an official application of two sponsors who expressed their desire to give Kyiv the building and the dale in 7, Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street,” he said. “It is a scandalous and resonant object situated in the historical part of the city and known to every resident of the capital.” According to Puzanov, this problem was very difficult to solve since the city could not prove that the building at the corner of Bohdan Khmelnytsky and Pushkinska Streets, near the Russian Drama Theater and above the hall of Teatralna metro station was illegal. When answering the questions of The Day of the official emphasized that the donors did not receive any kickbacks or preferences. According to him, they just realized that because of the locals’ attitude to this place they will not be able to work there.

Puzanov was also inspired by winning at the court of original jurisdiction that ruled a decision concerning the dale located in 1-3, Instytutska Street. He is sure that they will win the further appeals as well. Nobody knows yet what will appear at this place. The mayor intends to hold a competition for the best project. In general, according to Puzanov, the Kyiv municipality is working on returning the illegally privatized objects and dales to the ownership of the city (“1,770 hectares that cost dozens of millions”).

The electronic city management is, of course, great. However, wasn’t it announced too loudly and didn’t they forget about someone? In particular, The Day asked about the homeless people that make today an unpleasant “curiosity” of Kyiv. Puzanov got slightly embarrassed and said that he did not know how the electronic management system could help them. However, he still found proper words and predicted that these people will be able to use the street terminals that will allow them to access the electronic government.