Crimea and temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions will return to Ukraine. This will inevitably happen! Therefore, it’s the time now for us to plan how the decentralization reform will change the lives of Ukrainians who became hostages to Russian occupation in these territories. This is our essential priority in the current year! Vice Prime Minister/Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities of Ukraine Hennadii Zubko stressed on Facebook. 

According to him, it became essential and very topical after the adoption of the Law "On the peculiarities of State policy on ensuring Ukraine’s State sovereignty over temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions".

"We have to prepare plans for the inhabitants of the temporarily occupied Donbass and the annexed Crimea containing a roadmap of amalgamation of communities with new opportunities and resources. To include there the prospect of infrastructure development, kindergartens and schools network. To show how the reform will change the quality of providing security and administrative services, as well as educational, social and medical. To plan how the quality of life of people in these areas will change. For this purpose, and this is my principled position, we have to embark on the development of perspective plans for the consolidation of the territorial communities in the temporarily occupied Donbas", emphasized Hennadii Zubko.

The Vice Prime Minister informed that the day before at a coordination meeting with experts dedicated to the decentralization reform, the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities of Ukraine in synergy with the Ministry of Temporary Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, and the Civil Military Administrations of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, elaborated such perspective plans. "As for the development of long-term plans for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, it is necessary first to determine at the legislative level whose responsibility it would be to develop such plans and what bodies be involved. But Ukrainians in the annexed Crimea have to clearly understand what prospects and opportunities open up for them within Ukraine", said Hennadii Zubko.