LARGIS II
ASSISTANCE TO REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT POLICY IN UKRAINE
FINAL REPORT
|
|
University of Birmingham
International Development Department
December 2006
|
| |
|
|
| |
PART I: LARGIS II - Wider Context and Achievements
|
| |
|
| |
The Development of Regional Policy in Ukraine 2000 - 2006
|
| |
Since 2000 the Government of Ukraine has committed
itself increasingly to the harmonisation of Ukraine's regional policy with
that of the European Union. Within the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry
of Economy has taken a clear lead in the process of reform. |
| |
In the post-independence period from 1991, it
is fair to say that regional policy in Ukraine continued more or less in
the Soviet tradition, being conceived principally as a tool for distributing
limited resources from the national budget to loosely defined depressed
territories. |
| |
The focus of reform since 2000 has been the introduction
of objective and transparent measures of regional development and improving
the targeting and effectiveness of state assistance to areas of chronic
deprivation and poverty. Equally important, and in itself a sea-change in
approach to regional policy, instruments have been developed which provide
incentives to those economically stronger regions with the potential to
lead the process of sustainable growth in the national economy |
| |
Above all, reform has entailed re-thinking the
balance in relations between national and local levels of government. Regional
policy, having traditionally been regarded as a top-down intervention to
arrest the decline of particular sectors, is increasingly understood as
being concerned with helping regions to themselves create an environment
in which economic activity can prosper. The vocabulary of regional development
is now explicitly focused on building partnership rather than vertical relations
between Kyiv and Ukraine's 25 oblasts, and on strengthening the institutional
arrangements which support these. |
| |
Ukraine now has a framework Law on the Stimulation
of Regional Development, passed by Parliament in September 2005, and a National
Strategy for Regional Development to 2015, adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers
in July 2006. In so doing, Ukraine has met key elements of its obligations
under the Ukraine - EU Action Plan for 2004 - 2006. Both the Law and the
National Strategy are overwhelmingly based on and informed by European experience
and their adoption denotes a further significant step in the harmonisation
of Ukraine's domestic policies and institutional structures with the standards
and requirements of the European Union. |
| |
|
| |
The Contribution of LARGIS II
|
| |
If the principal achievement of the original LARGIS
project (2000 - 2002) in the field of regional policy was to assist the
Ministry of Economy to conceptualise a new approach to regional development
and to build a consensus in support of its acceptance, the contribution
of LARGIS II lies in the assistance it has provided to the Ministry to convert
concept and consensus into practical policy, and to prepare the detailed
legislation to ensure effective implementation of that policy. Additionally,
and as a direct consequence of this assistance, the professional capacity
of senior and middle-range specialists in the Ministry has been demonstrably
enhanced.
In summary the contribution of LARGIS II has been as follows:
|
 |
Facilitating final acceptance of The State Law
on the Stimulation of Regional Development, which was passed by Parliament
in September 2005. Major inputs to the law from the original LARGIS project
were followed in LARGIS II by comments on the final draft in June 2005,
immediately prior to submission to the Verkhovna Rada; |
|
Ensuring that the National Strategy for Regional
Development to 2015, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in July 2006,
adhered to the standards and best practice of similar documents in European
Union states. LARGIS II experts provided critical comment and advice at
each stage of revision of the document. There was initial resistance at
both Cabinet and regional levels to some significant innovations in the
Strategy, for example the principle of 'polarised development' prioritising
state capital investment resources to selected regions as engines of growth,
and scepticism about the appropriateness to Ukraine of the proposed contracts
for regional development. Ultimately however, the support of LARGIS II experts
was undoubtedly one of the factors which helped the Ministry to overcome,
or at least minimise, objections to its proposals; |
|
Highly focused and practical inputs to the preparation
of the detailed secondary legislation necessary to ensure that the State
Law and National Strategy are capable of being effectively implemented.
Between June 2005 and April 2006 Ministry specialists, aided by international
and Ukrainian experts, prepared secondary legislation on: A Revised Methodology
for Defining and Ranking Depressed Regions and Territories; State Capital
Investment Grants - Procedures and Criteria for Allocation; The Introduction
of Contracts for Regional Development. Without the detailed regulation provided
by secondary legislation the Law and the Strategy, like so many well-intentioned
reforms which have preceded them, would be destined to be inoperable; |
|
Significant capacity building in relation to 12
Ministry of Economy specialists, mainly at section head and leading specialist
levels, plus the Head of the Ministry's Regional Development Department
and the First Deputy Minister himself. Lack of capacity in depth in the
areas of policy analysis and policy development is an acknowledged problem
in the Ministry, as it is in other government departments. Hence the original
understanding with the Ministry that LARGIS II experts would act as advisers
and mentors to Ministry specialists, but would not themselves prepare draft
documents. In each of the components concerned with secondary legislation,
international and Ukrainian advisers have commented on successive drafts
of documents prepared by specialists, but the specialists themselves are
always the authors of the final product; |
|
The preparation of a practical model for a workable
oblast or inter-oblast Regional Development Agency, capable of acting as
an effective instrument for regional development. The model was developed
by a joint working group of Ministry of Economy specialists and Ukrainian/international
experts, and draws on the experience of exisiting agencies in Ukraine and
best practice in the European Union; |
|
Wide dissemination of examples of good practice
in regional development from Ukraine and from European Union states, through
the establishment of a LARGIS II web-site at www.largis.org.ua. The site
will be accessible until 2008. |
| |
|
| |
Sustainability
|
| |
While there is some danger that the terms of the
regional policy debate in Ukraine may be increasingly dictated by those
more concerned with the issues of regionalism and federalism - this tendency
has been evident in the last 2 years - there is nevertheless reason to hope
that the momentum for a broadly EU approach to regional development is already
internally driven and not reliant on technical assistance, and that it is
to some extent embedded in government thinking regardless of changes in
leadership. |
| |
It is noteworthy that the consensus behind the
need for reforming legislation on regional policy continued to build in
the years between the closure of LARGIS and the inception of LARGIS II,
without any major input of technical assistance in this area from any other
source. It was the Ministry of Economy itself which took responsibilty for
driving the process forward. It was the presence of an active partner and
a receptive climate which enabled LARGIS II to deliver tangible outcomes
in a relatively short period of time. |
| |
Similarly, the political instability of Ukraine
following the parliamentary elections of March 2006, and the subsequent
change of government, have not prevented the adoption of the National Strategy
for Regional Development by the Cabinet of Ministers or the continuing intention
to negotiate contracts for regional development with selected oblast councils
during 2007. |
| |
It is, however, a continuing concern that the
burden of maintaining the momentum for change has unquestionably fallen
on key individuals in the Ministry of Economy. It is to be hoped that the
wider capacity building efforts of LARGIS II and other current projects
will correct this to some degree. |
| |
In the final analysis, the effectiveness and sustainabilty
of regional policy reform in Ukraine are inseparable from areas of broader
administrative reform which still demand attention from the Government of
Ukraine, and on which consensus has yet to be achieved. These are the issues
of fiscal decentralisation, the strengthening of local self-government,
and territorial administrative reform. |
| |
|
| |
PART II: LARGIS II - Terms of Reference, Purpose and Outputs
|
| |
|
| |
Terms of Reference
|
| |
At the request of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine,
the United Kingdom Government's Department for International Development
(DFID) approved financing for a short-term programme of assistance in the
field of regional development policy. The purpose of the assistance was
to enable the Government of Ukraine to formulate policy and appropriate
legislation on future regional development policy in Ukraine, in the wider
context of increasing harmonisation with the policy and practice of the
European Union. |
| |
|
| |
LARGIS II commenced operation in June 2005 and
completed its work at the end of May 2006. |
| |
|
| |
Main Objectives of Assistance: |
| |
|
| |
It was agreed that LARGIS II would assist the
Ministry of Economy to prepare:
|
| 1. |
A State Strategy for Regional Development of
Ukraine to 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 should
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. |
| |
|
| |
A parallel and important objective of LARGIS II
would be to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Economy specialists
in the fields of policy analysis, policy development and consensus building
with key stakeholders inside and outside government. Objectives 1-4 would
all be the result of the work done by Ministry specialists, guided and supported
as necessary by LARGIS II EU and Ukrainian experts. |
| |
|
| |
Purpose
|
| |
The project log-frame defines the purpose of LARGIS
II as follows: |
| |
'To assist the Government of Ukraine to formulate
policy and appropriate legislation on future regional development policy
in Ukraine, in the wider context of increasing harmonisation with the policy
and practice of the EU.' |
| |
LARGIS II has clearly achieved its purpose, building
on the stong base provided by the the original LARGIS project. As stated
in Part I, both the new State Law on the Stimulation of Regional Development
with its related secondary legislation, and the National Strategy for Regional
Development to 2015, are overwhelmingly based on and informed by European
experience and their completion marks a significant step in meeting the
requirements of the EU - Ukraine Action Plan 2004 - 2006. |
| |
Concrete examples of European Union member states'
experience in regional policy have been adapted for inclusion in Ukraine's
policy and legislative framework, for example the experience of contracts
for regional development in France and Poland. Regular consultation with
LARGIS II EU experts, and the first-hand exposure of Ministry specialists
to experience on the ground through study visits to these countries and
also to Britain, have been instrumental in this. |
| |
|
| |
Outputs
|
| |
|
| |
This section evaluates LARGIS II performance against
the planned outputs of the log-frame. These were: |
| |
|
| 1. |
Draft legislation on Ukrainian regional development
policy completed; |
| 2. |
Consensus among key stakeholders at national and
regional levels on the policies and policy instruments to be included in
legislation; |
| 3. |
Programme of capacity building for Ministry of
Economy completed. |
| |
|
| |
Output
1: Draft legislation on Ukrainian regional development policy completed. |
| |
|
|
Activities |
|
Expert comment on final draft of State Law June
2005; |
|
Expert comment and consultation on successive
drafts of the National Strategy between June 2005 and Spring 2006. The Ministry's
original intention had been to submit the Strategy to the Cabinet of Ministers
in July 2005 but critical expert comment persuaded the Ministry to extend
the period of preparation; |
|
Expert advice on the identification of monitoring
indicators for each of the National Strategy's strategic goals, based on
a methodology prepared in the DFID Lviv Development Project; |
|
LARGIS II EU and Ukrainan experts were paired
with Ministry counterparts to prepare secondary legislation (normative acts)
on: i) Revised Methodology for Defining and Ranking Depressed Regions and
Territories; ii) State Capital Investment Grants - Procedures and Criteria
for Allocation; iii) Introduction of Contracts for Regional Development;
|
|
Expert advice on secondary legislation took the
form of face-to-face consultation, written comment on repeated drafts of
documents, 2 training workshops (both on EU procedures and criteria for
allocation of capital investment grants , one in Ukraine and one in Poland); |
|
One 5-day study visit to France in November 2005
to examine the operation of contracts for regional development. A shorter
visit to Poland in January 2006 included examination of Polish experience
of regional contracts; |
|
Translation of relevant policy documents and
legislative acts from EU states, for example the draft Polish National Strategy
for Regional Development 2007-2013. |
| |
|
|
Results Achieved |
| |
|
| |
i) Passing of State Law on the Stimulation
of Regional Development: |
| |
|
| |
The Law was passed by the Ukraine Parliament in
September 2005 and received Presidential approval later the same month. |
| |
|
| |
ii) Completion of the National Strategy for
Regional Development to 2015: |
| |
|
| |
The National Strategy was approved by the Cabinet
of Ministers in July 2006, having been in preparation for 5 years and having
undergone several late revisions in the course of LARGIS II, i.e. from June
2005 to May 2006. |
| |
|
| |
The Strategy represents a significant break with
the traditions of the past, not only in its efforts to bring Ukrainian institutions
and legislation into line with EU practice and to emphasise the principle
of partnership rather than subordination in relations between centre and
regions, but also in the logic and realism of its approach. |
| |
|
| |
Following a rigorous diagnosis of the current
socio-economic situation in the regions, itself the outcome of much critical
input from LARGIS II experts, the Strategy identifies the following key
problems over the medium term: |
| |
|
|
low investment appeal and innovative activity
at regional level; |
|
underdeveloped physical and social infrastructure; |
|
irrational use of human resources; |
|
weak inter-regional links; |
|
growth of regional disparities in the country's
socio-economic development. |
| |
|
| |
Clearly the Strategy might have identified many
other challenges facing Ukraine's regions, and it was the custom of socio-economic
programmes in the past to identify a wide range of problems and an a wish-list
of proposed actions to remedy them. In contrast, the Strategy adopts a far
more selective approach to what the State is realistically able to achieve
and concentrates in particular on the issue of improving the competitiveness
and productivity of regional economies as coherent socio-economic systems. |
| |
The Strategy also challenges the previous orthodoxy
of regional policy in Ukraine by introducing the concept of 'polarised development'
as one of its conrnerstone principles. This entails the State deliberately
targeting support to so-called locomotives of growth, predominantly urban
centres where financial, administrative, human and other resources are concentrated,
with the aim of catalysing multiplier and spill-over effects to other regions.
|
| |
The principle of polarised development is also
to be employed in support of the least developed and most deprived areas,
compact territories where further degradation might undermine national cohesion
and the harmonious development of the State. Again the adoption of this
principle underlines the influence of technical asistance on the thinking
of the Ministry of Economy, and seemingly a new preparedness on the part
of the Government of Ukraine to identify priorities and to target limited
resources geographically. |
| |
|
| |
The National Strategy is accessible in Ukrainian
and English on the LARGIS II web-site. |
| |
|
| |
iii) Completion of Secondary Legislation to
Support Implementation of the State Law: |
| |
|
| |
LARGIS II EU and Ukrainian experts worked with
Ministry of Economy counterparts to prepare the following documents essential
for the enactment of the State Law: |
|
A Revised Methodology for Defining and Ranking
Depressed Regions and Territories; |
|
State Capital Investment Grants - Procedures and
Criteria for Allocation; |
|
Procedure for Introduction of Contracts for Regional
Development. |
| |
|
| |
Revised Methodology on Depressed Territories
|
| |
In practice, according to the Ministry of Economy,
no methodology has been applied consistently in the identification of depressed
territories. Successive governments have used a more or less arbitrary approach
to the selection of regions or territories to be classified as relatively
deprived. |
| |
The new State Law on Stimulating Regional Development
does stipulate certain principles and categories of regional deprivation,
including a set of indicators. However, these are based on a methodology
prepared some years ago and which testing by Ministry specialists has found
wanting in a number of respects. A satisfactory methodology is a crucial
element in the implementation of the Law, in particular in the allocation
of state capital investment grants to depressed regions or parts of regions.
Any methodology proposed should also take account of the recommendations
of the DFID Statistics Project, which had covered some of the same ground
with the State Statistics Committee. |
| |
It was agreed with the Ministry that a revised
mathematical model should be developed by a LARGIS II Ukrainian expert in
conjunction with Ministry specialists, and then tested against the 'real'
situation in the regions. In this connection, it is worth noting that the
quality of regional statistics is often very poor, especially at town and
district level, which not only complicates the process of testing a revised
model but also has longer-term implications for monitoring changes in the
situation at local level. |
| |
In consultation with the Ministry, the LARGIS
II expert prepared a review of existing criteria for measuring deprivation
at regional and sub-regional level, proposals for a revised set of deprivation
indicators, an analysis of the level of development of all regions, towns
and districts in Ukraine against these indicators, and a recommended procedure
for monitoring change in the level of development of individual territories.
The recommendations were substantially accepted by the Ministry and incorporated
into a methodology approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in June 2006. Certain
of the detailed recommendations required amendment of the State Law itself
and their inclusion was deferred until such time as the necessary amendments
can be prepared. |
| |
The approved methodology is accessible in Ukrainian
and English on the LARGIS II web-site. The full recommendations of the LARGIS
II expert are also accessible on the site. |
| |
|
| |
State Capital Investment Grants Procedures |
| |
In common with the methodology for identifying
depressed territories, the key issue for the Ministry of Economy concerning
State Capital Investment Grants (also known as subventions) has been the
absence of clear criteria or regulatory procedures for the allocation of
grants to the regions. In practice decisions have been taken by Parliament
on the recommendation of individual deputies. Unsurprisingly, analysis by
the Ministry of recent years' practice in agreeing grants shows that the
allocation of finance has not necessarily been related to the level of socio-economic
development of a region or territory, but rather has been driven by political
factors. |
| |
|
| |
Advice to the Ministry focused on the following
more detailed issues: |
|
Criteria for the allocation of investment grants
embracing both the promotion of economic growth and addressing the needs
of deprived areas, and which are harmonised with EU standards for the preparation
and approval of capital investment proposals; |
|
Conditions for co-financing by the state and
the region which take proper account of the revenue available to the receiving
region, city or municipality; |
|
The legislative impediments to the multi-year
funding required by capital projects of any significant scale. Again, the
experience of EU states in overcoming this problem was of particular relevance; |
|
Institutional mechanisms for agreeing and distributing
grants which minimise delays and maximise spending from the budget allocation
for a given year. The Ministry was concerned at the high number of unfinished
capital projects in the regions, resulting from a combination of delayed
starts and single-year financing. |
| |
As a result of the advice received, the Ministry
prepared draft secondary legislation on 'Institutional and Technical Procedures
for the Preparation, Evaluation and Distribution of State Capital Investment
Grants', for consideration by the Cabinet of Ministers. The procedures include
draft guidelines and criteria for the preparation and evaluation of capital
investment proposals from regions to national government, drawing on EU
standards and practice. |
| |
Currently the secondary legislation remains in
draft form and has not been presented for approval to the Cabinet of Ministers.
This is because Parliament has so far resisted the attempts of the Government
to gain control of the allocation process in place of elected deputies.
|
| |
Nevertheless, in view of the particular concern
over unfinished capital projects, the Government managed to reach agreement
on a new interim procedure, which is based on more competitive and selective
criteria such as funding capital investments for objects under construction
which are nearly finished, or providing funds for projects with a higher
profitability rate. An overarching criterion introduced in 2006 is that
each project should in some way save energy, and should employ alternative
energy technologies where possible. |
| |
The draft procedure prepared by the Ministry is
accessible in Ukrainian and English on the LARGIS II web-site, as is a copy
of the training programme for Ministry specialists on EU practice in relation
to capital project submissions from regional to national government, delivered
by LARGIS II Polish experts.
|
| |
|
| |
Contracts for Regional Development
|
| |
The new State Law on the Stimulation of Regional
Development identifies contracts for regional development as a key instrument
in a national strategy to facilitate cooperation between national and regional
government in stimulating development at regional level. Although the idea
of such contracts has been under consideration in the Ministry of Economy
for 4-5 years during which the experience of two EU states, France and Poland,
has been carefully studied, their introduction is a considerable innovation
for Ukraine. |
| |
First, the regional contract presupposes a relationship
of partnership rather than vertical subordination in the relations between
regions and Kyiv and anticipates the promised constitutional reform which
will make regions fully self governing rather than the present hybrid of
elected oblast councils and parallel state administrations accountable to
national government. In the meantime, regional contracts will be agreed
between the Cabinet of Ministers and oblast councils. |
| |
Secondly, contractual arrangements allow for sharing
of the financial burden of significant capital spending between national
and regional government, thereby making possible the kind of major project
which could not be undertaken by a regional authority on its own. They entail
national government agreeing to finance on a joint basis infrastructure
projects which are regarded as national as well as local priorities. The
National Strategy for Regional Development already identifies a number of
potential projects of this kind. In its turn the region must commit itself
to provide an agreed proportion of the finance from its own resources. An
example of this might be the construction of a major inter-regional transport
link. |
| |
Thirdly, contracts for regional development are
principally intended for those regions designated as 'locomotives of growth'
(see section on National Strategy), i.e. oblasts where financial, administrative,
human and other resources are relatively better developed, and which have
the potential for catalysing multiplier and spill-over effects to other
regions. As a result of study visits organised through LARGIS II, the Ministry
of Economy has learned lessons from both French and Polish models and has
recommended the introduction of contracts on a gradual basis, starting with
a handful of regions, so as not to create expectations that cannot be satisfied. |
| |
Lastly, the intention is that regional contracts
should provide assurance of multi-year funding (for example for 3-5 years)
and thus significantly increase the stability and predictability of local
government financial planning. Experience in other countries shows that
such an assurance is often the incentive that other partners and private
capital need in order to become involved. |
| |
The conditions and procedures for introducing
contracts were approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in July 2006. In achieving
this, the Ministry has successfully overcome significant and powerful opposition
within government. On one hand its opponents focused on the dangers of increased
federalism arising from establishing contractual relations with regions;
on the other, on the danger that it would lead to still greater demand for
government assistance with capital projects. The LARGIS II role was to provide
the Ministry with consistent support and arguments to counter criticism
of the contract instrument. It is encouraging that the new Government of
Ukraine intends to continue with the policy and has already signed memoranda
to this effect with oblast councils in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Kharkiv.
|
| |
The approved procedures are accessible in Ukrainian
and English on the LARGIS II web-site, as are various background papers
documenting international experience, provided by LARGIS II experts. |
| |
|
| |
Output
2: Consensus among key stakeholders at national and regional levels on the
policies and policy instruments to be included in legislation |
| |
|
| |
Activities |
|
2 round-table meetings with Ukrainian expert institutions
specialising in regional development, to discuss the draft National Strategy
and secondary legislation documents (aborted); |
|
Promotion of understanding and discussion of key
issues through the establishment of a LARGIS II web-site in September 2005
and monthly reports on project activity from June 2005 onwards, circulated
to over 100 governmental and non-governmental institutions. |
| |
|
| |
Results Achieved |
| |
It is clear that sufficient consensus was built
amongst key stakeholders, at national level at least, to enable the Ministry
of Economy to gain approval for a National Strategy which is in many respects
controversial, and for secondary legislation which includes instruments
such as regional contracts which were initially opposed by some powerful
interests within government. This is an achievement of the Ministry itself,
with LARGIS II experts playing a background role in helping the Ministry
to clarify for itself the arguments in favour of a particular policy, and
to place it in its broader European context. This is as it should be. |
| |
However, LARGIS II experts consistently pressed
the Ministry to discuss draft documents with a wider group of interested
institutions and individuals. On two occasions round-table meetings for
this purpose, to which the Ministry had agreed, were cancelled because the
Ministry considered that documents were not yet ready for more public discussion.
|
| |
To some extent the Ministry's position is understandable,
bearing in mind the politically charged atmosphere which currently surrounds
the issue of regional policy and the risk that the terms of debate may be
deliberately confused with questions of regional autonomy and federalism.
It is hardly worth sacrificing five years' work in a conflict with short-term
political interests. |
| |
At the same time, it has to be acknowledged that
part of the reason for failing to consult widely is that this ministry,
along with others, is simply not geared up to doing so. Policy development
work by state servants, of the kind needed to prepare these documents, is
squeezed into evenings and weekends if it is done at all. Add to this the
expectation that state servants will find time to consult widely on their
proposals and the perceived burden on them becomes intolerable. Unfortunately
the result is often that those responsible for implementing a new state
policy, in this case state and local government officials working in the
regions, are often the last to know and understand what is expected of them.
This may partly explain the failure of so many otherwise well-intentioned
reforms. |
| |
Output
3: Programme of capacity building for Ministry of Economy completed |
| |
|
| |
Activities |
|
Pairing of EU or Ukrainian experts with a total
of 14 Ministry counterparts on all components of project activity, with
experts fulfilling role of mentor to the specialists responsible for preparation
of the policy document; |
|
On the National Strategy 2 visits to Ukraine
by an EU expert to give face-to-face consultation to the authors, followed
by written advice and comment. Continuous input from the Ukrainian expert; |
|
On secondary legislation re- regional contracts,
4 visits by an EU expert to give face-to-face advice, followed by written
advice and comment on successive drafts; re- state capital investment grants,
3 visits by EU experts for face-to-face consultation, written advice and
2 training workshops on adapting EU procedures to Ukrainian conditions (2-day
and 5-day); re- depressed territories methodology, continuous input from
the Ukrainian expert; |
|
3 study visits: to Britain (regional development
agencies), France (contracts for regional development) and Poland (contracts
for regional development, regional development agencies); |
|
A representative working group established with
brief to develop a model for the establishment of regional development agencies
in Ukraine, based on the experience of EU states and of exisiting agencied
in Ukraine. |
| |
|
| |
Results Achieved |
| |
The completion by Ministry specialists of a National
Strategy which in its quality and realism stands up well to comparison with
similar strategies in European Union states, together with the preparation
of secondary legislation which also overwhelmingly reflects a policy of
harmonisation with EU approaches, are testimony to the much increased capacity
of the Ministry. These documents could not have been produced 3-4 years
ago. LARGIS II has contributed to this by insisting at all times that document
preparation is at all stages the responsibility of the Ukrainian specialist,
guided and supported by an EU or Ukrainian expert. |
| |
The fact that all LARGIS II international experts
have extensive experience of Ukraine has meant that comment and advice has
been based less on a simple transfer of experience from other European countries,
than on an understanding of how that experience can be applied in practice
in Ukraine. Study visits have been short, well-focused and for small groups
of 4-6 Ministry and regional representatives. They have been employed strategically
to illustrate the practical implementation of the policy instrument being
studied, both its advantages and its limitations, before finalisation of
the Ministry's recommendations. |
| |
Overall, the Ministry has given the issue of capacity
building the necessary priority and has allocated its most able senior specialists
to work with project experts. In all 14 Ministry specialists worked with
LARGIS II experts on the components concerned with the National Strategy
and secondary legislation, compared with the log-frame target of 20. The
final figure is inevitably influenced by the chronic problems faced by the
Ministry in recruiting and retaining highly qualified specialists.
|
| |
The model for the establishment of regional development
agencies in Ukraine, as significant partners to national and local governments
in stimulating economic development, was not required for inclusion in secondary
legislation at this stage but will be the subject of future policy development
work by the Ministry. The model was prepared by a short-term working group
comprising representatives of the Ministry, international and Ukrainian
experts, and the Euro Regio organisation. The National Association of Regional
Development Agencies (NARDA) was also consulted on successive drafts of
the final document. |
| |
This was a valuable capacity building exercise
for Ministry specialists, which included the opportunity to compare widely
differing approaches to the form and role of these agencies through study
visits to both Poland and Britain. The model stands as an important product
of LARGIS II and is accessible in Ukrainian and English on the LARGIS II
web-site. |
| |
The proposed Best Practice Training Manual (log-frame
1.4), was intended principally as a capacity building handbook for regional
and local authorities. It was to contain practical advice on methodologies
of strategic planning and management and on the integration of strategy
implementation with effective budget management. The manual is now under
preparation in DFID's Lviv Development Project and will be published early
in 2007. |
| |
|
| |
PART III: LARGIS II - Project Management, EU Experts, Ministry of Economy
Counterparts, Ukrainian Experts
|
| |
|
| |
Project Management: |
|
| |
|
| |
Adrian Campbell,School of Public
Policy,University of Birmingham, England |
Project Director |
| |
Serhiy Romanyuk,First Deputy Minister
of Economy, Government of Ukraine |
Lead Partner |
| |
Duncan Leitch |
Project Director (Ukraine) |
| |
Tetyana Korneyeva |
Project Co-ordinator |
| |
Slava Gill |
Finance Officer |
| |
|
| |
EU Experts: |
|
| |
|
| |
Expert
|
LARGIS II Component |
| |
|
| |
Grzegorz Gorzelak,Poland |
National Strategy for Regional Development |
| |
Kenneth Davey,Great Britain |
State Capital Investment Grants |
| |
Pawel Swianiewicz,Poland |
State Capital Investment Grants |
| |
Gerard Marcou,France |
Contracts for Regional Development |
| |
Krzysztof Herbst,Poland |
Regional Development Agencies |
| |
Zbigniew Jedrzejewski,Poland |
State Capital Investment Grants |
| |
Jacek Kavala,Poland |
State Capital Investment Grants |
| |
|
| |
Ministry of Economy Counterparts: |
|
| |
|
| |
Specialist |
LARGIS II Component |
| |
|
| |
Olena Nyzhnyk,Director of Department for
Regional Development |
National Strategy for Regional Development, Methodology
for Defining and Ranking of Depressed Regions and Territories |
| |
Tetyana Kravets,Head of Division of Medium-
and Long-Term Planning of Regional Development |
National Strategy for Regional Development,State
Capital Investment Grants,Contracts for Regional Development, Regional Development
Agencies |
| |
Anton Klyatsky,Former Head of Division
of Strategic Planning of Regional Development |
National Strategy for Regional Development |
| |
Evgen Minzar,Chief Specialist, Division
of Strategic Planning of Regional Development |
National Strategy for Regional Development |
| |
Snizhana Shepel,Head of Sub-Division of
Monitoring of Regional Development |
National Strategy for Regional Development |
| |
Nina Pliyush,Chief Specialist, Division
of Regional Development Monitoring |
National Strategy for Regional Development |
| |
Maria Poberezhna,Former Chief Specialist,
Sub-Division of Medium- and Long-Term Planning of Regional Development |
State Capital Investment Grants Contracts for
Regional Development, Regional Development Agencies |
| |
Valentyna Zharuk,Deputy Head, Sub-Division
of Medium and Long-Term Planning of Regional Development |
Contracts for Regional Development |
| |
Anna Naumenko,Head of Sub-Division of Stimulation
of Regional Development |
State Capital Investment Grants |
| |
Galyna Pavlenko,Deputy Head of Sub-Division
of Stimulation of Regional Development |
State Capital Investment Grants |
| |
Tetyana Shkurenko,Chief Specialist, Sub-Division
of Stimulation of Regional Development |
State Capital Investment Grants |
| |
Anna Svetlichna,Chief Specialist, Sub-Division
of Stimulation of Regional Development |
State Capital Investment Grants |
| |
Oksana Romanyuk,Chief Specialist, Sub-Division
of Medium- and Long-Term Planning of Regional Development |
State Capital Investment Grants |
| |
|
| |
Ukrainian experts: |
|
| |
|
| |
Expert |
LARGIS II Component |
| |
|
| |
Serhiy Maksymenko Euro Regio |
Lead Expert (to December 2005) |
| |
Olga Mrinska Independent Expert |
National Strategy for Regional Development |
| |
Markiyan Datsyshyn, Institute of Reforms |
Methodology for Defining and Ranking of Depressed
Regions and Territories |
| |
Yuriy Hanushchak, Independent Expert |
State Capital Investment Grants |
| |
Ihor Sanzharovskyi, Euro Regio |
Contracts for Regional Development |
| |
Myroslava Lendel, Uzhgorod State University |
Regional Development Agencies |
| |
Viktor Tkachenko, Independent Expert |
Regional Development Agencies |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
Duncan Leitch
LARGIS II Project Director (Ukraine)
November 2006
|
|
Tetyana Korneyeva
Project Coordinator |
| |
|
|