Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman commissions to expedite elaboration of changes to the existing construction standards in a bid to eliminate outdated requirements and to introduce international standards. The Head of Government held a meeting with entrepreneurs and architects.

"Modern world standards in construction sector are different from those in effect in Ukraine. Our current objective is to ensure swift adaptation of the construction norms to European standards. Given the referential costs of construction in Europe and the US, we see a completely different architecture in Ukraine. I am resolved. It is crucial to find out what changes we can bring about immediately, which of those require an in-depth work. Delaying is not our option", the Head of Government said. "I consider in a few weeks we have to elaborate decisions and adopt them. Time is of the essence here."

The participants of the meeting stressed that concrete changes in construction standards towards retrofitting would harmonize urban architecture and make it more convenient for the citizens. The architects voiced proposals that will be taken into account by the Government when making changes to construction standards.

Background

In Ukraine, more than 180 building norms are in force, with 109 out of those being state standards. Regulations in some of them are obsolete and require standards aligned with international standards, advanced technologies and the elimination of corruption risks. Revision of construction norms will allow for the eliminating unnecessary regulatory procedures, will promote the development of entrepreneurship in urban planning. At present, the bill On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine On Building Standards, which is designed to regulate and modernize state building regulations, is being considered by the Parliament.

According to the results of 2017, housing construction increased by 9% in Ukraine. According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine data, the amount of housing facilities put in operation in cities last year made up 7.3 million square meters in absolute figures, in the countryside - almost 3 million square meters. The average size of the built apartment is 78.6 square meters. Leading positions held Luhansk region, where housing construction tripled. The top ten also included Poltava region (71.8% growth), Ivano-Frankivsk region (29.9%), Kyiv city (29.9%), Transcarpathia (24.9%), Odesa region (25.1%), Ternopil region (25%), Dnipropetrovsk region (24.4%), Rivne region (21.5%), Lviv region (11.6%).