Experts from the US Treasury will conduct a unique training for the employees of the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance devoted to key performance indicators in budget spending

On May 31 and 1 June, a workshop on the optimization of budget spending effectiveness and key performance indicators (KPI) took place for the employees of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. The workshop was conducted by Kevin Clogerty and Ken Thorp who are advisors from the technical aid office of the US Treasury.

The Ministry of Finance has been pursuing the reform of the budget process including steps to increase the effectiveness of public spending. That is why it is important to set key performance indicators (KPIs) for spending, in order to be able to control the effectiveness of budget funds, to be more effective in managing the budget process and to have clear criteria to evaluate the quality of management decisions.

The above workshop was the first event of this kind in Ukraine. It was staged in line with the concept “Transparent Budget” of the E-Data project. The concept was adopted by the Government of Ukraine on February 11, 2016.

The primary goal of the workshop is to promote common understanding among public servants in Ukraine for KPIs which must comply with international standards. Understanding and applying the systems of KPIs will make it possible to find ways to increase the effectiveness of budget spending. Based on the results of the workshop, a KPI glossary will be compiled and key approaches for the adjustment of Ukrainian regulations in this area to international standards will be formulated.

Later on, similar trainings will be conducted at other ministries as well and the KPI system – as a part of the concept “Transparent Budget” – will be introduced at all state agencies.

Experts of the US Treasury note that Ukraine has too many KPIs which are not unified. This poses hazards for the effectiveness evaluation of management decisions. “To be able to analyze so many KPIs, one needs much time. That is why information can lack transparency at some stage. Hence, it can be difficult for the public to gauge the use and effectiveness of these unsystemic and uncoordinated KPIs for the operation of state agencies”, Ken Thorp said.

The workshop was held thanks to the efforts of Deputy Minister of Finance Oksana Markarova, the E-Data project team, civil society representatives and the Technical Aid Office of the US Treasury.