Caracterización del CAE

Decentralisation is the other pressing issue in reforming the Ukrainian state. Ukraine has chosen the Polish model, which means that, though laws are made in the capital, regional governments have the freedom to decide how to implement them. They are responsible for administrating and implementing policies, and running schools, hospitals and other public services. From a European perspective this may not seem particularly dramatic, but everything in Ukraine was highly centralised until recently. Even administrative decrees such as notifications on construction work were issued in Kyiv, and the central Treasury paid every cleaning lady in every town hall in Ukraine. There was no local management, and no right to decide on local affairs.

Decentralisation is therefore important not only to create a more efficient Ukrainian administration but to increase the sense of ownership and responsibility. In the past, average citizens were often disengaged from politics, as there was a feeling that local affairs couldn't be changed anyway.

Initially, decentralisation enjoyed high levels of support from the government, parliament, and the international community. Because of this wide support, the constitutional amendments on decentralisation were linked to the law that gave special status to separatist areas under the Minsk agreement. It was thought that the lack of domestic support for Minsk could be overcome with the promise of decentralisation. Instead, Minsk poisoned the debate on

20 Miriam Kosmehl and Andreas Umland, “Established Political Parties Benefit from Ukraine’s New Reform”, Atlantic Council, 26 July 26 2016, available at http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/established- political-parties-set-to-benefit-from-ukraine-s-new-reform. 47

decentralisation. Protests and harsh public critique of the proposed special- status law meant that the constitutional amendments on decentralisation were put on hold.

But despite this constitutional stalemate, there are more than 500 individual pieces of legislation that can be used to carry out decentralisation – as well as administrative decrees and reform initiatives. At the same time, decentralisation means that local administrations must develop planning and management capabilities, and build up a stock of experts and additional governance structures. To support this, the EU launched the programme “U-Lead”, with €100 million allocated in funding.21 The United States Agency for International Development

(USAID) launched its own initiative ― Decentralization Offering Better Results and Efficiency (DOBRE) ― with $50 million allocated to assist local authorities.22

The two programmes are complementary, and the 159 administrative raions (divisions) taking part are divided between the programmes.

This international support is supplemented by a 40 percent increase in local administration budgets from the Treasury. As there have never previously been any bodies that planned, decided and managed programmes on their own, training is the top priority. However, few operatives within the Ministry for Regional Development speak English, limiting the opportunity to include them in Western training programmes. To facilitate training, USAID has set up 24 regional offices with support from Europe. Sweden has created a task force in the Finance Ministry to facilitate fiscal decentralisation, but this is still in its early stages. But while coordination between the US, the EU, the Council of Europe and some individual European states, like Switzerland or Sweden, has been smooth, some other states, which are as yet unnamed, have developed programmes without consulting or informing others.

But the biggest obstacle to decentralisation is the lack of coordination between the Ukrainian ministries. Disentangling state bodies from the post-Soviet chaos of competences and accountabilities has delayed reform, despite the fact that decentralisation is supported by Prime Minister Groysman and others. In order to push forward the decentralisation of power to the oblasts and raions, the Ministry for Regional Development reached out to the relevant other ministries in early 2015 to gather information on the infrastructure in each province. They

21 “Special Measure 2015 for Decentralisation Reform in favour of Ukraine Action Document for ‘U-LEAD with Europe: Ukraine Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development Programme’”, European Council, available at https://www.gtai.de/GTAI/Content/DE/Trade/Fachdaten/PRO/2015/12/Anlagen/PRO201512295004. pdf?v=1.

22 “Ukraine USAID-Kiev, RFA-121-16-000002, Decentralization Offering Better Results and Efficiency (DOBRE)”, Agency for International Development, 12 February 2016, available at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view- opportunity.html?oppId=281002.

did this so that they could brief the new regional governments on their role and tasks. But the staff in hospitals, schools, and other facilities are paid by the Finance Ministry, and so the Education and Health Ministries were unable to say exactly how many facilities are in each region and how many people are employed, which would enable payments to be calculated. The Finance Ministry, which was then occupied with restructuring the banking system and keeping Ukraine solvent, had little time or resources to gather the necessary data. Furthermore, some ministries, particularly the Health Ministry, have been reluctant to cooperate with decentralisation reforms. Meanwhile, the Education Ministry wants to complete its reform of the education system first. Both ministries fear that regional governance will interfere with their restructuring efforts. Interestingly, neither has received much foreign assistance or advice, and at the highest level, personal rivalries between officials on how to implement decentralisation and who should have which powers have delayed the work throughout much of 2015.

The topic of decentralisation has become ideologically fraught because it was linked to the special status law according to the Minsk accords. This linking has damaged support for reform among top officials. However, Groysman has always been open to suggestions on decentralisation, and there is hope that he will be able to push this agenda forward even further as prime minister. To reduce the number of communities and raions in Ukraine, the government gave incentives to voluntarily merge smaller ones. Before rationalisation there were approximately 490 raions, and when the research for this paper concluded, these had been streamlined into just 159. The progress of decentralisation reforms depends greatly on the participation and mobilisation of those who live in the countryside. Here, the EU and USAID programmes to assist decentralisation in the communities play a vital role in raising awareness about the reform and how it will affect the lives of citizens.

At present, the decentralisation reform is itself highly centralised. Kyiv prescribes reforms, while most communities are faced with the difficult task of implementing them, and sometimes even understanding them. A few cities and provinces are making active use of the new laws, but most are just trying to adapt as best they can. The government’s communication on this issue has been poor, and many Ukrainians see decentralisation as a tool of “federalisation” and hence capitulation to the separatists. Attempts to explain the reform to ordinary people have come late, and are still insufficient. The lack of information about 49

what the reforms would entail made many local politicians fear for the loss of their powers, and campaign against them – despite the fact that such reforms will create more opportunities for them in the long run.

At the same time, it is inevitable that decentralisation will lead to many schools, hospitals, and other public services being closed. But this is an overdue development, as maintaining the surplus of facilities inherited from the Soviet Union is unsustainable. However, if this restructuring is not accompanied by a plan for regional development, decentralisation runs the risk of looking like a centrally imposed austerity programme, rather than a means of local empowerment.

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