JEL Classification: О 18, R 58
Popova Yuliia, Candidate of Economic Sciences, The Head of the Department of Investment Activity and Project Management, Poltava District Council, Poltava, Ukraine
e-mail: popovayuliya777@gmail.com
Kononenko Mykhailo, Candidate of Science in Public Administration, the Chairman of the Poltava District Council, Poltava, Ukraine
The modern state and prospects for the development of inter-municipal cooperation
Abstract. Introduction. The inter-municipal cooperation becomes especially important for Ukraine in the conditions of implementation of the local self-government reform and the reform of the administrative-territorial system. Inter-municipal cooperation offers opportunities for significant progress in addressing topical issues of local development. At the same time, it has a great potential, which can be very useful for ensuring balanced development of territorial communities. The municipalities and communities are the smallest territorial units of public administration and constitute the basic level of local self-government. This does not mean that they are always too small or weak, but often they do not have enough size and resources to perform all the functions that are required of them. In this regard, the best means of strengthening the resource base of the territorial communities are partnership and cooperation.
Purpose. The purpose is to research the current state of inter-municipal cooperation and to determine ways of expanding the capacity of local self-government in the development of territorial communities by enhancing their cooperation.
Results. The article describes the current state of inter-municipal cooperation. In particular, it was established that the main areas of cooperation in Ukraine are the following: solid household waste management and improvement of the ecological status, improvement of the services providing; providing of fire protection and safety; improvement of educational services, etc.
The study found that the leader of inter-municipal cooperation is the Poltava region. Among the districts is the Poltava district. So, today in this region 7 agreements on inter-municipal cooperation have been registered. At present, experts are working on the conclusion of two more.
Conclusions. The author outlines the following directions for the further development of inter-municipal cooperation, such as: involvement of a wide range of public organizations, business entities and residents of the territorial communities in cooperation; development and implementation of joint projects of territorial communities; receiving financial support through the preparation and submission of development projects for contests, participation in grant programs, cooperation with international technical assistance programs, international donor and financial organizations.
Keywords: territorial community; cooperation of territorial communities; inter-municipal cooperation; local self-government; balanced territorial development; decentralization of public authority.
References:
- Olenkovsjka, L. P. (2013), “Foreign experience of the organization and the effective functioning of inter-municipal cooperation”, Pravo ta derzhavne upravlinnja, vol. 2 (11), pp.159-164.
- Bianchi, F. and Russo, C. (2014), Inter-municipal Co-Operation: The Managerial Perspective of Local Authorities, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy.
- Hulst, R. and Montfort, A. (2007), Inter-Municipal Cooperation in Europe, Springer, Berlin, Germany.
- Zasadko, V. V. (2014), “The mechanisms of inter-municipal cooperation use in the process of strengthening the economic security of border cities”, Socialjno-ekonomichni problemy suchasnogho periodu Ukrajiny, vol. 4 (108), pp. 108 – 116.
- The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (1997), The Law of Ukraine “On local government”, available at: zakon.rada.gov.ua/go/280/97-вр (Accessed 01 May 2018).
- The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (2014), The Law of Ukraine “On cooperation of territorial communities”, available at: http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1508-18. (Accessed 17 June 2018).
- Ghryndej, O. I. (2015), “Municipal cooperation-innovative form of local development”, Naukovi praci ChDU, vol.252, pp.54-58.
- Tolkovanov, V.V. and Zhuravelj, T.V. (2016), Spivrobitnyctvo terytorialjnykh ghromad (mizhmunicypaljne spivrobitnyctvo – MMS) [Cooperation of territorial communities (inter-municipal cooperation – IMC)], Kyiv, Ukraine.
- Kostina, N.A. (2017), “Development cooperation of local communities (inter-municipal cooperation – IMC) under the implementation of local government reform”, Aspekty publichnogho upravlinnja, vol. 4(11-12), pp. 84-90.
- Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine (2018), “The register of treaties on cooperation of territorial communities”, available at: http://www.minregion.gov.ua/napryamki-diyalnosti/regional-dev/rozvytok mistsevoho-samovryaduvannya/reyestr/
Українська