A round table dedicated to the Builder’s Day was held on August 7 under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Denys Shmygal at the initiative of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional Development and Urban Planning.

The round table was also attended by the Chairman of the Committee Andrii Klochko, Government members and representatives of the construction industry.

The Prime Minister reminded that the reform of the State Architectural and Construction Inspectorate is underway. For its part, the Government, together with the working group, the construction market and the line parliamentary committee, did everything possible to ensure its successful completion. The next step should be taken by the Verkhovna Rada.

"We want business and the market to be involved in decision-making. We need changes to the legislation. The draft law still needs minor adjustments. We are ready to make these adjustments in order to create a consolidated, relevant and necessary document for the market, which will prevent corruption," the Head of Government emphasized.

According to Denys Shmyhal, the key achievement of the reform today is the new Construction Activities Register.

"The new electronic register operates on state servers, without access by third parties and without the ability to make changes retrospectively there. Honest business is interested in the fair functioning of the market without corruption," said the Prime Minister.

Denys Shmyhal added that instead of SACI the Cabinet of Ministers had established two central authorities: the State Urban Development Inspectorate of and the State Urban Development Services Division. According to the Prime Minister, further legislative changes are required to prolong the reform.

"Our goal is to remove licensing and decentralize SUDI (State Urban Development Inspectorate) with the new law. Each consolidated community will have its responsible inspector. And the developer will be able to apply both to the local inspector, and to the state inspector in the corresponding area, or interregional inspection as well", Denys Shmyhal emphasized.

In turn, the chairman of the Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional Development and Urban Planning Andrii Klochko said that the Committee had initiated this meeting, as it is currently working on important bills on urban development reform. "It is critical to hear the opinion of both business and Government in as many issues as possible," said the chairman.

The official also added that among the key proposals for legislative changes are as follows:

- transfer from the central service authority to the authorized bodies of local self-government of registration powers and issuance of declarative and permitting documents;

- introduction of the optionality principle in a bid for the construction customer to be able to choose: to register with the local government authority or the State Services Division;

- final abolition of licensing in construction and its replacement by certification of executive committees;

- the right of the construction customer to choose the insurance system instead of the permit, the mechanism of pre-trial appeal, etc.

"The entire life cycle of the urban development project will now be under control: from planning to demolition. Georgia's experience teaches us that if we give up control at all, we can build Batumi in 10 years. But in another 10 years we will have acute problems with the exploitation of new buildings. And to solve this problem, enormous funding will be required," Andrii Klochko stressed.

According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, with the adoption of the law and the introduction of personal responsibility of licensing entities when holding the decentralization of the State Urban Development Inspectorate, the situation in the construction market will become much more transparent.

For his part, the Chairman of the State Urban Development Inspectorate Yurii Vasylchenko said that the process of establishing the Inspection sees its final stages.

"In September, SUDI should start performing its functions of control and supervision over urban planning. But this will be possible only if the necessary changes are made to the legislation, thereby allowing to regulate the powers of the SUDI to exercise control and supervision in construction sector," he said.

During the round table, Denys Shmyhal congratulated the representatives of the construction industry on the upcoming Builder's Day and thanked them for saving jobs, providing people with new jobs and continuing to build Ukraine amid the crisis.