Hennadii Zubko: Today everyone got convinced that budget decentralization has transferred from consideration to concrete steps of the Government

Due to the amendments to the Budget and Tax Codes, the resource of local budgets in 2015 will grow, according to preliminary estimates, over UAH 30 billion. As these changes ensure also an autonomy to adopt local budgets and decentralization, and in the future these changes will give a synergistic effect and the revenues of local budgets will increase two to threefold. Thus, at the disposal of local authorities there will be a resource to address issues of community development. This was stated by Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Hennadii Zubko, in his comments concerning the approved changes in the Budget and Tax Codes.

"The Government represented by the Ministry of Finance will not interfere in the process of planning the revenues and expenditures of the local budgets, while the terms of approval of the local budgets will not depend on the adoption of the state budget, as it was before. This is something long awaited by the local government in Ukraine and what has become a reality," said Hennadii Zubko.

The official informed that the revenue basis of the local budgets had been expanded at the account of payment from the state budget the administrative services, an increase in the rate of the environmental tax, introduction from 2015 a tax on the retail sale of excisable goods at a rate of 2% to 5 % of the value of the sold goods, introduction of a tax on profit of private enterprises, 10% of which will be obtained by the regional budgets.

"Someone was in a hurry to blame us that there won’t be decentralization in the country. Today everyone got convinced that budget decentralization has transferred from considering to the concrete actions of the Government", said Vice Prime Minister.

According to him, another effective mechanism, which allows to increase the resource base of the local budgets, is the voluntary association of local communities.

"The law now stimulates communities to unite through a mechanism of the transition of budgets of united communities to the direct inter-budget relations with the state budget, the empowerment of these communities equal to the powers of cities of regional value. After all, having the voluntary association, the budgets of such communities will leave for themselves 60% natural-person income tax. It is another chance for the local communities to solve the problems in the development of their territories - they combine their efforts, resources to achieve a clearly defined goal," said Hennadii Zubko.

Not less important is the step in changing of intergovernmental relations which the official called granting a right to local self-government bodies to independently choose an institution in the Treasury institutions or banking institutions to service the funds of the development of local budgets and appropriate revenues of budgetary institutions.