This week, the Verkhovna Rada is expected to vote for draft law No 5655, which paves the way for practical changes in the field of urban development.

“One of the main tasks of the newly created Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development is to increase efficiency of the executive branch in the management of reconstruction. Reconstruction, which is taking place now in small volumes, and large-scale reconstruction, which will begin after the victory. There are many changes in the field of urban development ahead. But the key thing is that we must change the approach to reconstruction. After all, perhaps the biggest questions people ask now are about justice and fairness of the future reconstruction, and safeguards against corruption.

I believe that such a safeguard can be digitalization of processes and maximum elimination of the ‘human factor’ from the process of issuing permits, as well as the possibility of choosing regulatory and inspection bodies – both among private and public institutions,” commented Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine – Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Oleksandr Kubrakov.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the draft law No. 5655 takes into account all the comments of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, and the reform itself is supported by this key anti-corruption body of the country.

“The law significantly strengthens the instruments of bringing violators to justice. In the newly established electronic system, each decision of participants in the construction process will have a clear digital trace, and therefore no one will be able to avoid responsibility for illegal actions. Also, due to digitization of many procedures, a wide range of stakeholders, including urban planning authorities, regulators, market participants, will be able to monitor the progress of a project,” commented Oleksandr Kubrakov.

The reform was implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Digital Transformation and with expert support of the USAID / UK aid Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services project.

As a reminder, the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development invited the G7 countries and the European Union to jointly implement the reform in the field of urban development.