35 out of 46 municipalities in Donetsk Oblast established in the government-controlled area are currently fully or partially free. The situation is rather challenging, therefore, when communicating with them, U-LEAD takes into account their needs and military realities. Maksym Tkach, Head of the Regional Office in Donetsk Oblast, informed about this:
“Some of these municipalities set up work in relocation, and some have to organise basic service provision on their territories in Donetsk Oblast and also support their residents in other parts of Ukraine. Donetsk Oblast is one among those areas most affected by the hostilities. Despite this situation, participants from this oblast are involved in activities that cover the entire spectrum of local self-government responsibilities. These include issues of public safety, energy security, local finance, human resources management, municipal service provision, etc.”
He stressed that the U-LEAD with Europe Programme was established to support decentralisation in Ukraine. However, other challenges have arisen due to the war, and therefore the Programme's training activities are more focused on strengthening the capacity of local self-government to cope with them:
“When preparing these events, U-LEAD always considers the urgent needs of local self-government. For example, the final stage of the budget process in Ukraine usually takes place in autumn. The Programme's experts traditionally offer Budgeting Steps for finance specialists. Many municipalities of Donetsk Oblast sent their applications, and representatives from Illinivska and Shakhivska municipalities of Donetsk Oblast became participants of the Steps.”
Maksym Tkach added that the U-LEAD Regional Office communicates with all military administrations operating in the oblast, as well as with the relocated municipalities, and provides advisory and expert support.
According to him, the launch of the Strengthening Local Resilience: Support for Emergency Repairs in Municipalities project was recently officially announced during the Procedural Issues of Recovery in Municipalities conference. This project is a joint initiative of U-LEAD and the Ministry for Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine. As part of the project, participating municipalities are provided with vouchers to purchase construction materials, tool kits and public transport. Five municipalities from Donetsk Oblast are to participate in the project.