President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in a joint meeting of the Presidium of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President and the National Council of Reforms, which took place in Kyiv in the framework of the All-Ukrainian Forum "Ukraine 30. Decentralization".
"We had two constructive, useful meetings (of the Congress - ed.) in Dnipro and Khmelnytskyi. And we raised a lot of important, but, unfortunately, still problematic issues there. Today I would like to hear about the solution of the issues we have discussed in detail, or about the decision-making processes that are already being finalized," the Head of State said at the beginning of the meeting.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the fact that the meetings of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities are held regularly, with the involvement of a wide range of participants, and this platform has not become a club of reformers of a "conversational genre only".
"We see the problems, and we resolve them," the President stressed.
Deputy Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Tymoshenko added that with the establishment of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities a fundamentally new way of interaction between the President and local self-government has emerged, which is qualitatively different from various "virtual councils" that existed before. This is especially important in the current socio-political context, when, due to decentralization, a significant amount of power has been transferred from the center to local governments.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko noted that after the sittings of the lower house of Congress in Khmelnytskyi and the upper house of Congress in Dnipro, the last procedural moment remained to be implemented - election of the chairman of the presidium of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine.
According to the results of the voting of the participants of the sitting, the Presidium of the Congress was chaired by Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak. He stressed that the Congress should become a coordinating body that would balance the needs of the state and each individual community.
"The main goal of our joint work is to significantly improve the quality of life, meet the needs and protect the rights of every Ukrainian in every corner of our country. As a result of our actions, every Ukrainian should feel that his life has become better," Andriy Yermak said.
According to him, the Presidium of the Congress will meet monthly, and the highest officials of the country - members of the Presidium of the Congress will consider the proposals of both houses of this body and generate decisions through legislative initiatives within the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers.
The participants of the joint meeting also discussed important reforms in infrastructure, healthcare and entrepreneurship.
