On Dec. 9, President Viktor Yanukovych introduced the first stage of his government streamlining plan by cutting its size.
According to the president’s website, six types of central executive agencies were defined: ministries, services, inspections, agencies, independent regulators and special status agencies.
Sixty-three executive agencies were established altogether, down from 112.
The number of cabinet members will be reduced from 36 to 17.
This [shrinking the government] is what (former) presidents Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko tried doing. Will the triad succeed with the current president is another question and no one can envisage this.”
– Yuriy Yakymenko, director of political and legal programs at the Razumkov Center.
The number of cabinet employees will be halved from the current 1,174.
It is not clear how much – if any money – these moves will make.
“It appears Yanukovych took the route long advocated for by the European Union,” said Yuriy Yakymenko, director of political and legal programs at the Razumkov Center.
“Government bodies will operate based on a triad in which public administration transitions from sectoral to functional principles: the ministries engage in policies, agencies engage in the economy, and inspection agencies and other services engage in monitoring and control.”
Yakymenko added: “This is what (former) presidents Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko tried doing. Will the triad succeed with the current president is another question and no one can envisage this.”
A November Razumkov nationwide survey showed that only 13.2 percent of respondents fully support the government while 45 percent stated they didn’t.
