At the request of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, the British Government's Department for International Development (DFID) has approved financing for a short-term programme of assistance in the field of regional development policy. The wider context of the assistance is the Government of Ukraine's drive for increasing harmonisation of state policy with the policy and practice of the European Union.

LARGIS II will assist the Ministry of Economy to prepare:

1.

A State Strategy for Regional Development of Ukraine till 2015, reflecting European standards and approaches and including recommendations for the necessary institutional changes to support implementation of the Strategy.

2.

A revised statistical methodology for the measurement of levels of regional, rayon and urban social and economic development and for more precise identification of 'depressed territories'.

3.

Targeted and transparent intergovernmental fiscal instruments to support depressed territories or to stimulate further growth in regions which are relatively stronger and may have strategic importance for the economy as a whole.

4.

Selected institutional instruments widely used in the European Union to support regional development, including Contracts for Regional Development and Regional Development Agencies. LARGIS II will assist the Ministry to identify the necessary conditions for adapting EU experience to the circumstances of Ukraine and the practical procedures and legislative implications of doing so.

5.

A best practice training manual advising regional authorities on practical methodologies of strategic planning and management, and on integration of strategy implementation with effective budget management.

A parallel and important objective of LARGIS II is to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Economy specialists in fields of policy analysis, policy development and consensus building with key stakeholders inside and outside government. Objectives 1-5 will all be the result of the work done by Ministry specialists, guided and supported as necessary by LARGIS II experts.

LARGIS II project will operate from June 2005 to May 2006.

The project's main partner is the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, in particular Department of Regional Policy.

LARGIS II, like the original LARGIS (2000-2002), is being implemented by the School of Public Policy in the University of Birmingham, England. Its chief Ukrainian expert partner is the Institute for Regional and Euro-Integration Studies "EuroRegio Ukraine" in Kyiv, through which LARGIS II will have access to a network of specialist Ukrainian agencies and experts working in the regional development field. In addition "EuroRegio Ukraine" is providing office accommodation and project co-ordination.

DfID has two other major projects on regional development operating in Ukraine, "Action Donbass" in eastern Ukraine and "Economic and Social Development of Lviv oblast" in the west. LARGIS II will draw strongly on the practical experience of these projects on the ground.

Project Director in Ukraine:
Duncan Leitch, dleitch@gala.net

Lead Ukrainian Expert and Strategic Adviser (until January 2006):
Serhiy Maksymenko, smaksymenko@eru.org.ua

Project Coordinator:
Tetyana Korneyeva (from June till October 2005, from January till May 2006),tkorneyeva@largis.org.ua
Tel.: +38 044 599 57 30
Fax: +38 044 492 97 78

Ihor Sanzharovsky (from October 2005 till January 2006),
isanzharovsky@canurb.com
Tel: +38 044 390 70 87

Since December 2005 the Project was based at 25, Sofiyivska Str., office 1, Kyiv, Ukraine, 01001