The Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Kharkiv Oblast organised the event “Handling Finance under Martial Law” for the municipalities of the Kharkiv Oblast.
Maryna Honcharenko, Adviser on Municipal Finance and Management at the Office, answered the questions of the participants regarding the assessment of budget programme performance, the rules for drawing up reports on meeting their targets, the use of unclaimed balances and the balance of educational subventions, mechanisms for supporting the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from municipal budgets, the application of the programme classification of expenditures during capital repairs, etc.
The assessment of the budget programme performance is an integral and important component of programme-target budgeting, since it allows for determining the effectiveness of the budget programme, identifying risks, improving the quality of planning, ensuring transparency and accountability, as well as controlling the targeted use of budget funds.
“So far, there are no exceptions in the effective laws regarding the lack of the assessment of budget programme performance. For instance, pursuant to Order of the Ministry of Finance No. 836 “On Certain Issues of the Introduction of the Programme-Target Method of Formation and Implementing Local Budgets” dated 26 August 2014, the primary administrators of budget funds must submit the results of the assessment of budget programme performance to the local financial body within 14 calendar days after submitting the annual budget report reporting, i.e. on or prior to 10 March 2024,” said the adviser.
Furthermore, according to Maryna Honcharenko, the organisational and methodological principles for assessing the budget programme performance by the primary administrators of budget funds are determined by the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. In order to assess the performance evaluation, the primary administrators can be guided by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine No. 608 “On Approval of Methodological Recommendations for the Assessment of Budget Programme Performance” dated 17 May 2011, as well as the improved methodology for comparative analysis of performance set forth in Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine No. 31-05110-14-5/27486 dated 19 September 2013.
As was noted by the adviser, the suspension of Part 5 of Article 28 of the Budget Code of Ukraine under martial law allows the primary administrators not to publish the results of the assessment of Budget Programme Performance. However, in most cases, it should be done if technically possible because publicity and transparency of the use of budget funds are the main attributes of a democratic society.