Managing the regional and local recovery of Ukraine after the war
Authors: Nestor Olha Yu. , Dub Andriy R. 
Published: December 2024

The article discusses the problems of managing Ukraine’s economic recovery after the Russian-Ukrainian war, which should be taken into account when planning the process of regional and local recovery and the solution of which will help economic growth. The author outlines the results of the decentralization and regional development reforms implemented in Ukraine after 2014: development of a detailed policy, management, and financing systems for regional development; growth of financing for regional and local development; empowerment of regional and local authorities; improvement of the quality of administrative and social services; creation of various policy coordination bodies at the national, regional, and local levels, e.g., regional development agencies. The article analyzes the following development problems and territorial imbalances: mechanisms and practices of financing regional development in Ukraine (need to be strengthened, as their deficiencies significantly affect investment results), the capacity of regions and territorial communities (its strengthening is crucial for effective promotion of post-war recovery), the lack of a clear division of tasks and responsibilities between levels of government (a major problem for the effectiveness of the process of Ukraine’s recovery after the war), poor coordination between national, regional, and local authorities (limits the efficiency and performance at different levels of government). The author suggests implementing the following steps to ensure Ukraine’s recovery after the war, taking into account the peculiarities of regional and local development: to continue the reforms of regional development and decentralization; to promote the exchange of experience between Ukraine and other countries; to ensure that informed, factual, and evidence-based decisions on reconstruction and recovery are made at the regional and local levels; to create mechanisms to prevent corruption in the process of using recovery funds by local authorities; involve regions and territorial communities in the development of immediate recovery schemes and long-term development strategies; to introduce mechanisms at the national and local levels to support the transparent use of funding for Ukraine’s recovery by regional and local governments; to limit the number of regional and local recovery funds to avoid fragmentation of investment costs; to assist (with the support of international partners) regions and territorial communities to strengthen capacity and develop expertise in areas important for the post-war recovery period; to build the technical capacity of authorities at all levels to create, analyze, and disseminate geographically disaggregated socio-economic, demographic, and welfare data. Special attention is paid to the need to simultaneously address urgent recovery tasks and long-term development objectives, as well as to ensure a strong and inclusive recovery, taking into account existing territorial imbalances and governance problems. It will be a feature of Ukraine’s post-war recovery.