A working meeting of representatives of the embassies of G7 countries was held.  The meeting was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine - Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov and Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov. The conversation focused on digitalization of the construction sector and effective management of the reconstruction processes. 

"The adoption of the law caused a heated discussion within the society and this is the right and necessary process. Today we are changing the very approach to the urban planning industry and digitalizing the processes of issuing permits, putting facilities into operation, as well as monitoring the progress of construction. We are creating such a reform for the transparency of all processes and are open to expert dialogue. The next stage is implementation. I openly invite representatives of the G7 countries and all industry stakeholders: specialized associations, business, anti-corruption organizations to create a monitoring group that will supervise the implementation of the joint reform and the development of bylaws necessary for the launch of the law," commented Oleksandr Kubrakov.

He also noted that the draft law takes into account all comments from the NACP in full. 

Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov reminded that the first stages of the reform had begun 2 years before with the creation of the Portal of the Unified State Electronic System in the field of construction. 

"When we started, the Construction Projects Register was in private hands abroad, and bribes were literally recorded in the system. Today we have already changed this by creating an electronic system that registers every action or inaction of officials. We have digitalized the services provided by the state and the number of services provided is already more than 134,000.

Now under the Law No. 5655, it is planned to digitalize the services provided by local authorities. This is essentially a new stage in the reform of the urban planning industry. I consider it the largest anti-corruption reform in recent years," said Mykhailo Fedorov. 

Mykhailo Fedorov also stressed that he was open to any audit of the digitalization process in the industry.

In turn, the ambassadors of the G7 countries assured of their readiness to join the monitoring of the reform implementation and noted its timeliness and importance for Ukraine. In particular, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany Anka Feldhusen noted that the issue of post-war reconstruction would be acute for most regions of Ukraine, and the preservation of the powers of local authorities was an important step for the implementation of the law on decentralization. 

"When implementing the reform, it is important to take into account the opinion of local communities and preserve their powers. At the same time, I agree that digitalization is an effective tool in overcoming corruption, and we fully support the transition from paper bureaucracy to technological and transparent processes in the field of construction," summed up the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany. 

Background Information

Law No. 5655 was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on December 13 and is now pending the signature of the President of Ukraine.

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