Project description

Title: Improving municipal services, Lugansk
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Ukraine
Lead executing agency: Ministry for Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Municipal Economy of Ukraine
Overall term: 2010 to 2015

Context

To date, Ukraine’s municipalities have not been adequately performing the duties assigned to them, largely due to a lack of funding. The Ukrainian Government therefore plans to reform the principles of municipal self-governance.

Following the collapse of the large-scale industrial complexes, which used to make a substantial contribution to financing public services in eastern Ukraine, the municipalities are no longer able to ensure that local infrastructure is properly operated and maintained. In addition, they lack the necessary administrative and human resources to manage municipal services.

Although the municipalities have to meet the costs of the services, their influence on generating municipal revenue is limited. Necessary investments are generally not prioritized and the fees charged do not cover costs. Insufficient attention is paid to the needs of municipal service users. The procedures left as a legacy of post-Soviet administrative structures are complicated and bureaucratic.

Objective

In the pilot cities of the Lugansk oblast, conditions have been improved for the provision of municipal services.

Approach

The project is providing support to eight municipal administrations in the Lugansk oblast to strengthen public utility companies and improve administrative services. It is also helping with inter-municipal cooperation and training.

Since December 2010, GFA Consulting Group GmbH has been assisting in the development and provision of the services offered by public utility companies for water, waste water, waste removal and energy efficiency. The pilot cities receive advice on managing these services and are given assistance in drawing up appropriate investment plans and project applications, which can then serve as preliminary studies to acquire funding from national and international financing institutions.

In collaboration with local partners, the project is identifying the need for administrative processes to be adapted in order to improve the quality of services for citizens. To this end Centres for the Provision of Administrative Services (CPASs) are being set up for the citizens, and their staff trained for the new tasks.

In the field of inter-municipal cooperation, the project is providing advisory services to the partners on developing regional networks between the pilot cities. This includes advice on sectoral coordination, joint training measures und identifying projects and services that are suitable for cooperation.

In collaboration with partners such as the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI), the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) and the universities of Kehl and Heidelberg in Germany, various training courses are being developed that target municipal employees and NAPA teaching staff. The courses cover teaching methods, practical inter-municipal cooperation, project applications and investment plans.

Results achieved so far

Representatives of public utility companies and administrations were coached in applying innovative training methods while preliminary studies and project applications were being prepared. Project applications have been submitted to international financing institutions. This is designed to sustainably improve the quality of investment planning as part of a standardised project application procedure.

The project is helping to establish citizens’ offices (CPASs) in four pilot cities. National, regional and international workshops have also been held to promote the CPAS model, and a network of municipal administrations has been set up to enable regular exchanges. In 2011, 18 Ukrainian partners looked at the strategies, development and practical work of various German citizens’ offices with a view to subsequently applying this experience to their own structures. Citizens’ offices are being opened in three pilot cities in 2012.

Training courses and events have been held, one of the objectives being to identify the potential of inter-municipal cooperation in the Lugansk oblast. High-priority inter-municipal projects have been developed in the partner cities. The project has helped set up a regional development agency. The three partner cities involved have signed a framework agreement on cooperation to find joint cost-saving and resource-efficient solutions. In collaboration with the Council of Europe, the project has prepared a manual for inter-municipal cooperation.

To enhance the region’s image and promote municipal economic development, work has begun on developing a local profile (branding) in collaboration with the municipal administration of Lugansk, highlighting the city’s advantages. For the first time, the city of Lugansk will be teaming up with Donetsk to host the event ExtraSchicht – Night of Industrial Culture during EURO 2012.

Further information

• Improving Municipal Services
  Local project website
  www.ims-ukraine.org/en