Zelenskyi to take part in forum ‘Ukraine 30. Decentralization’

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi will take part in the All-Ukrainian Forum "Ukraine 30. Decentralization" on July 28-29, according to his press service.

Participants of the event, including representatives of the Office of the President, the Cabinet of Ministers, MPs, Ukrainian and international experts, as well as representatives of the Council of Europe and diplomatic missions, will discuss Ukraine's decentralization reform.

Among other things, they will talk about the role of local self-government in the context of decentralization of powers, digitalization as a driving force for the development of communities, and decentralization in Donbas in the context of the Minsk agreements.

The participants will pay special attention to the discussion of the European Charter of Local Self-Government as a basis for decentralization. In addition, there will be discussions on attracting investment, implementing infrastructure projects, developing medicine in communities, and cooperation within territorial communities.

The forum will also host a meeting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine.

As reported, in December 2019, President Zelenskyi submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law amending the Constitution of Ukraine on decentralization of power.

In January 2020, after discussions by experts, local authorities and society, the proposed changes were withdrawn from parliament for revision.

Since then, work has continued to develop a new version of amendments to the Constitution in terms of decentralization.