Law on decentralization of power passed in Ukraine

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed a law on regional policy that stipulates decentralization of power and ethnic and cultural development, the Ukrainian president’s press office reported on March 1.

The government-submitted document was passed by 254 votes at the Supreme Rada on February 5. “It defines the legal, economic, social, environmental, humanitarian and organizational bases of the state regional policy as an integral part of Ukraine’s domestic policy,” the source reports.

In addition, the law “creates a legislative basis for implementation of a new state regional policy, in particular, it defines the goals, principles and priorities of the state regional policy, the government strategy of the regional development, the powers of the subjects of the state regional policy, as well as defines the principles of financing and monitoring of the state regional policy implementation.”

The law introduces a principle of subsidiarity- decentralization of powers and their transfer to a lower level – determines the powers of the central and local authorities. It is supposed that the government and the local authorities will draft development plans for a period of 7 years.

The regional development is “on agenda of the Ukraine-EU Association,” the source reports.

In April of 2014, Ukraine’s authorities launched a military operation in Donbass against the residents that were discontented at the state coup. By the latest data of the United Nations, the conflict claimed the lives of almost 5.7 thousand of peaceful residents. The Ukraine conflict is discussed at negotiations in various formats, particularly, in the course of the meetings of the Contact Group in Minsk in mediation of Russia and OSCE.  Ceasefire was announced in the conflict area on February 15. On March 1, the Donetsk and Lugansk self-defense forces announced a full withdrawal of the heavy weapons from the Line of Contact. The Kiev authorities do the same.