Vice President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe Marc Cools has said he hopes that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych will sign the Concept of the Local Government Reform by the end of 2013 or at the beginning of 2014.
“I hope that by the end of this year or at the beginning of the next
year your president will sign the strategic document we call the Concept
of Local Government Reform,” he said during a roundtable discussion
entitled “Reform of the Local Government in Ukraine” in Kyiv on Nov.11.
He also said that it was high time to take first steps for the implementation of this reform.
“If you put off this reform until 2015, this means that it might never be introduced,” Cools said.
He also said that the concept is aimed at giving enough power to local government agencies to distribute funds.
In turn, Swedish Ambassador to Ukraine Andreas von Beckerath also
expressed the hope that the president would sign the concept in the near
future.
“I hope the president will sign the concept as soon as possible,” the diplomat said.
