December 17, 2015, PLEDDG Project officially started working in Vinnytsia oblast having signed the Memoranda of Cooperation (MOC) with partner cities and Oblast State Administration. Vinnytsia region has become the first of 4 oblasts with whom PLEDDG signed memoranda of cooperation. The purpose of the MOC is to establish fruitful cooperation between the local authorities, business community and general public which would work together for promotion of democracy and economic development on the local level, and supporting the decentralization process.
In a festive atmosphere, the Memoranda of Cooperation were signed by Project Director Oleksandr Kucherenko, head of Vinnytsia Oblast State Administration V.V. Korovii, and mayors of Project partner cities in the oblast, namely S.A. Morgunov (Vinnytsia city), S.B. Redchyk (Khmilnyk city), V.I. Kolomieitsev (Ladyzhyn city) and A.P. Kushnir (Zhmerynka city). Memoranda signing took place in the building of Vinnytsia Oblast State Administration during the roundtable discussion on a topic “Areas of PLEDDG Project implementation”.
We were deliberately selecting different cities – those were tourist, energetic, and industrial centers in order to comprehend the whole palette of needs and not to forget the ecological and gender constituent parts
said O.Kucherenko, Project Director in his introductory speech. He also stressed the necessity of appointing a regional coordinator responsible for the Project implementation in Vinnytsia oblast and importance of creating City Advisory Committee which would consist of the representatives of authorities, general public, and business.
Valerii Korovii, head of Vinnytsia Oblast State Administration, confirmed the readiness of oblast executive power to provide maximum promotion to the Project implementation.
The issue of the power decentralization takes currently a new meaning. Budget decentralization performed in the beginning of the year is one of the most successful reforms. We proceed from the assumption that we should not change the game. It is important for us that PLEDDG Project is aimed at promotion of development of specific regions and specific cities. It is a very powerful support for our municipalities
said Mr. Korovii in the course of the roundtable discussion. He also expressed confidence about successful project implementation in Vinnytsia region because the oblast already had huge positive experience in the sphere of various pilot projects implementation.
According to Sergii Morgunov, Vinnytsia mayor, the city has successfully moved forward in the matters of electronic governance. But there is always room for perfection and Vinnytsia is ready to learn new things from developed countries of the world.
Valerii Kolomieitsev, mayor of Ladyzhyn, told participants of the roundtable discussion that he would prioritize ecological issues in Ladyzhyn city development which are closely connected with the powerful economic development. He also added that it would be interesting for him to listen to the advices of foreign experts regarding planning in unstable macroeconomic conditions.
It was found in the course of the discussion that Zhmerynka was searching for an efficient formula of cooperation with community and Khmilnyk resort city suffered from the absence of the state development program; that is why they decided to elaborate it by them.
PLEDDG’s Senior Governance Advisor, Kadie Ward, noted that every partner city of the Project had its advantages which would help them in development of their economic potential. Zhmerynka is for example associated with one of the biggest railway junctions, Khmilnyk – with sanatoriums, Ladyzhyn – with a thermal power plant, and Vinnytsia was declared in December to be the most comfortable city for life in Ukraine.
