Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi region seeks contract with Kiev on division of powers

“Sovereignty” parade of Ukraine’s regions continues. Following the example of some other regions of Ukraine, the Khmelnytskyi Regional Council has voted to appeal to President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Volodimir Groysman urging them to support the conclusion of the agreement dividing the powers between the Cabinet and the regional authorities.

Submitted by the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, the initiative was supported by 62 parliamentarians out of 84. The parliamentary factions of the political parties Trust in Deeds, Batkivshchyna, Samopomich, and Petro Poroshenko Bloc supported the initiative. The Council’s decision has been submitted to the President’s Administration and the Cabinet.  The Chairman of the Regional Council, the former head of Khmelnytskyi Regional State Administration Mikhail Zagorodny says all standing committees of the Council supported the appeal.

In their appeal, the local parliamentarians blame the central authorities for inconsistent and delayed reforms of the local self-government.

They complain that they have no opportunity to form a budget, as they are just required to support or reject already created ones, which deprives the authorized representatives of the local communities of the opportunity to bring the public opinion to the central power.

They slam such approach, saying that because of such uncoordinated actions, the employees of the professional colleges have not received salaries for months. The parliamentarians are sure that “the most efficient model of relations between the government and the regions is a contract between the Cabinet, Regional State Administration and regional councils.”

Earlier, President Poroshenko said the contractual relations suggested by regional councils are unconstitutional and warned to dissolve the councils.

As EADaily reported, other regions of Ukraine also started demanding decentralization. In late May, the Odessa Regional Council suggested the leadership of Ukraine to make a contract distributing the powers of Kiev and the region.  Zhytomyr and Kirovograd regions too voted for the contractual relations with Kiev. The Russian Foreign Ministry says the decentralization process in Ukraine “has got underway.”