Not From the Top Down But Together
As for foreign experience, when revising the old law on self-government, our eastern neighbors studied over 200 laws and finally concluded that they needed to draft a new one. To quote Vladimir Zhygulin, advisor to the secretariat of Russia’s Presidential Administration, regions in Russia are burdened with myriad functions, but inadequate funding breeds administrative problems that increase social tension.
Poland is also seeking new solutions, although it has a record of successful administrative reform that enabled its regions to develop economically. According to Ambassador Ziolkowski, one of the ways to develop the economies of Ukraine’s regions would be to attract foreign investment. This is especially true of small towns.
A few other conference participants shared their opinions:
Ivan BONDARCHUK, chairman of the standing commission, Vinnytsia Oblast Council:
“So long as the political system stays unreformed we will not be able to say that the institutions of local self-government have been given the powers fixed in the European Charter.”
Yury IVANOV, chairman of the Vinnytsia Oblast Council:
“Unless the fundamental problem of the principles of the relationship between the center and regions is solved, we will not be able to draw the fine line between giving the regions more rights and ensuring state sovereignty in various spheres like the economy, taxes, etc. There are problems in the regions that no one is responsible for. Simultaneously, there are issues addressed by a number of levels of government at the same time, such as central government agencies, local administrations, local councils, and municipalities. In my view, we need a system of agreements with the ministries that would provide for incentives along with responsibility for organizing joint actions of the center and regions. This is how things are done in Europe. A similar system of agreements should be introduced at the oblast — region and region — village levels.”
Jerzy SUCHARSKI, Senator of the Republic of Poland:
“There can be no management from the top down. Instead, there should be joint management: not the people for self-government institutions, but the other way around.”
However, even the most constructive proposals — over seventy were made during the workshop — are worthless, unless the discussion is followed by actions supported by real money. Meanwhile, as MP Helen Clark put it, there are enough ambitions, natural and human resources in Ukraine for it to vie for EU membership and become an equal among the European states.
