Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers presents Reforms Support Center

Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Ostap Semerak on Wednesday, April 30, presented in Kyiv the Reform Support Center.

As the Minister explained, the Reform Support Center is a joint government and non-government platform aimed at making a cooperation between the Government and the exert community in the implementation of reforms in Ukraine closer and more effective.

"Creation of the Center of support of government reforms is one of the items of the implementation of the Association Agreement, which was signed by Ukraine. And one of the priorities of the present Government is the coordination and cooperation of the Government with the expert community," Ostap Semerak added.

The official recalled that the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has defined the steps program, which initiated the development of a number of key reforms. "That is why it is so important today to unite the efforts of all active expert communities of Ukraine and the Government in order to harmonize actions regarding the development, promotion and implementation of thematic reforms," the Minister considers.

Ostap Semerak called on all public organizations to joint work on reforms that the Government of Ukraine plans to introduce. And he also urged experts and public figures to consider the Reforms Support Center as a basic platform for cooperation with the Government". "The Government of Arseniy Yatsenyuk is the Government of the citizens. Participation of society in our work is of fundamental importance for us," Ostap Semerak stressed.

The Centre is going to fully participate in the development of government bills and accompany them till the adoption by the Parliament."It is important for the Government not to draft laws but that they were adopted by the Parliament and implemented", the Minister noted.

The idea of creation of the Reforms Support Center was supported by the International Renaissance Foundation.

Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation Yevhen Bystrytsky, who also took part in a press conference, in turn, said that such cooperation between the Government of Ukraine and the public occurs for the first time in the history of Ukraine. The involvement of public experts, in his opinion, is "very important" for the effective and rapid implementation of reforms within the country.

Later, Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Ostap Semerak held the first working meeting with the public experts and heads of services of Vice Prime Ministers in the framework of the Reforms Support Center.