The State Regional Development Strategy for 2021-2027 should be drafted on the basis of an assessment and analysis of current problems and trends of the regions. Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine Aliona Babak stressed during a coordination meeting with experts organized by the U-LEAD with Europe Program.

“We should realize what we want to achieve and then determine the ways of development of result-driven mechanisms. It is also critical to understand what instrument will the strategy serve as - a means of stimulating regional development, aligning through state aid, or a combination of motivation and subsidies,” said Aliona Babak.

The Minister stressed that she hoped for fruitful cooperation with experts, who would help identify the acute issues and find relevant tools to solve them, as well as determine the effectiveness of the strategy and the end results.

“The strategy should be submitted to the Government as early as December this year. In such a short time, partnership with the experts is critical for us, as we have to get a quality product that we will offer to the society and which will show how the regions of Ukraine will develop over the next 7 years,” summed up Aliona Babak.