Russia’s full-scale invasion and the ongoing war have had a devastating effect on Ukrainian municipalities. The destruction of infrastructure, migration and economic decline have led to a rapid deterioration of the financial situation and a drop in revenues from most local budgets. To help them survive in these conditions, the educational programme for finance professionals “Steps for Specialists. Budget Stabilisation Plan” has been launched.
Sören Herbst, Head of the Multi-Level Governance Unit of U-LEAD with Europe, welcomed the participants at the first seminar.
“The only way to restore municipal budget systems is to take decisive and structured measures to improve the management of local budgets,” he said. “They should include the comprehensive recovery stabilisation of all budgetary areas and the development of an appropriate package of effective measures. We believe that the ability of local self-government bodies to mobilise their own revenues is an important feature of decentralisation. That is why U-LEAD implements a number of projects aimed at introducing positive changes both at the policy level and at the local level to help municipalities ensure a stable budget process even in wartime.”
The training programme “Steps for Specialists. Budget Stabilisation Plan” is based on the results of the Experience Sharing Network in 2022. It includes expert advice and best practices of pilot municipalities that faced challenges caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.
“The budget Stabilisation Plan is an analytical document that identifies the municipality’s reserves and offers an action plan for their more effective use,” said Inna Sviatna, Municipal Finance and Management Adviser of the U-LEAD Regional Office in the Vinnytsia oblast.
According to her, the training will give the participants knowledge and practical skills to prepare this document, present it to the head of the municipality and make proposals for its implementation.
The first seminar was focused on making operational management decisions based on the analysis of budget indicators. The speakers explained the procedures for analysing the municipality’s resources, seeking reserves and monitoring revenues. They also introduced electronic analytical tools that can be used for economic analysis and justified their importance.
Olha Belaia, Head of the Financial Department of the Vilniansk City Council, Zaporizhzhya oblast, shared her experience of implementing the Budget Stabilisation Plan. She spoke about the stabilisation measures that had been developed with the support of U-LEAD and were being implemented in the municipality. They include systemic economic analysis, application of the minimum tax liability and other steps.
The event was moderated by Anatolii Matviiuk, Municipal Finance and Management Adviser of the Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Volyn oblast.
The next seminar will be held in a week. It will focus on approaches to seeking sources of potential resources and revenue mobilisation reserves for the budget, as well as ways to improve the financial capacity of local budgets.