The team of the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Rivne Oblast organised an event for the heads of local municipalities to learn the case of the Zoria municipality.
“We chose to focus on a rather narrow but pressing issue for local self-government, the financial autonomy of educational institutions. The advantages of such autonomy are evident from the case of the Centre for Financial and Economic Services for Educational and Cultural Institutions in the Zoria municipality. To explore the work of this institution, we organised an experience exchange event for officials of local councils from different parts of the oblast,” said Ruslan Syvyi, Head of the Regional Office.
The discussion of financial autonomy is relevant as local authorities are legally required to ensure the autonomy of educational institutions. Iryna Kondratiuk, Adviser on Municipal Finance and Management at the Regional Office, spoke on the issue:
“This requirement has been in effect for a long time, but local self-government bodies still have difficulties with its implementation. In addition, at the level of municipalities, you can find cases of improperly organised operation of other municipal institutions as well, such as kindergartens, clubs, libraries, etc. The reasons include difficulties with ensuring financial and accounting records in these institutions. Many local councils are looking for solutions to this issue.”
According to the adviser, the Zoria municipality has a successful experience in creating a separate institution that sorted out the accounting and finances of municipal institutions. U-LEAD experts provided advisory and expert support to the municipality.
“The financial autonomy of educational institutions can be ensured in two ways: by introducing an accountant position into the institution’s staff or by concluding an accounting contract with a municipal institution providing financial services to educational institutions. The Zoria municipality chose the second option and successfully applied it in practice. Everything is done in compliance with the effective laws, the network of primary administrators of funds and lower-level administrators is organised, and reporting is being submitted from each legal entity,” said Iryna Kondratiuk.
During his speech, Mykhailo Oliinyk, head of the village of Zoria, talked about the municipality, the structure of the village council, the network of municipal facilities and institutions. Next, Hanna Robotnytska, Head of the Department of Education, Family, Youth Policy, Sports, Culture and Tourism of the Village Council, focused on the functioning of the institutions under her department’s care.
Nina Borodina, Head of the Financial Department of the Village Council, spoke about the financing of the entire network of municipal institutions and the specifics of the model chosen by the municipality. Liudmyla Horobets, Director of the Centre for Financial and Economic Services for Educational and Cultural Institutions, was the last speaker during the presentation section and received the most questions. She spoke in detail on how the institution serves other institutions, how responsibilities are distributed between the institution’s accountants, who signs payment documents and how persons authorised for procurement are registered.
During the second section of the event, senior municipal officials were able to learn about the operation of individual municipal institutions, such as a culture and recreation centre, an art school, a sports school, a lyceum and a kindergarten. This allowed the guests to compare the case with the operation of their institutions and to share thoughts and ideas regarding the prospects of education and culture.
“Although the Zoria rural municipality was created at the last stage of the administrative-territorial system reform, it immediately sought models of proper organisation of the system of government and provision of services to residents. Today, the Zoria Village Council has many a success story to offer. Fortunately, the head of the village and his team share with others their own experience on the way to this model, talk about mistakes and give advice on what should be done and what should be done differently,” summarised Ruslan Syvyi.