Ukraine : Moving Forward on Regional Development and Regional Policy
The report considers the evolving experience in Ukraine, and looks at lessons from other countries in order to spur thinking about how best to move forward in the development of regional policy. In the context of a transition economy, accurately me...
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| Language: | English en_US |
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Washington, DC
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2002/06/5838857/ukraine-moving-forward-regional-development-regional-policy http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15095 |
| Summary: | The report considers the evolving
experience in Ukraine, and looks at lessons from other
countries in order to spur thinking about how best to move
forward in the development of regional policy. In the
context of a transition economy, accurately measuring the
changes that are underway is difficult. The statistical
system itself is in transition, and there are a wide range
of activities that go unrecorded. Official statistics
suggest that disparities among the regions have increased
since the mid-1990s in Ukraine, and data also suggest that
many of the regions in the west that focus on heavy
industry, plus Kyiv, continue to have the strongest economic
performance. In contrast, regions in the far west of the
country have the lowest per capita gross value added (GVA).
On reviewing regional development policy, some of the
factors that may explain the lack of effectiveness are as
follows: weak framework in setting objectives and
priorities; no fiscal parameters; ad hoc allocation of
investment; reliance on heavy state intervention; and,
top-down versus bottom-up. In order to build a long-term
base for regional development, and improve the effectiveness
of policy in the short term, there are a number of steps to
be taken as follows: there is need to clarify who is
responsible for what in the development and implementation
of regional policy; strengthen the Concept of Regional
Policy, to more clearly specify the broad targets of the
Government's regional policy and the particular aspects
of the central government's role; develop
administrative structures over time, but don't tie
regional development entirely to these structures; address
issues related to disparities in basic services through
equalization transfers, and safety nets; and, strengthen the
financial accountability, and after this, the ability of
regions to raise revenues. Furthermore, a transparent system
of allocation for a public investment that focuses on key
national infrastructure, should be created, and efforts to
improve the investment climate overall, as opposed to
pursuing investment enclaves should be supported, while
policies that help develop small and medium enterprises
should be further pursued. |
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