EBRD to fund project to develop and implement reforms in Ukraine – presidential administration

The Reforms Executive Committee and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on February 17 signed a memorandum on setting up a project management office to coordinate, develop and implement reforms in Ukraine.

"The project office will be created for two years to work on the development and implementation of reforms. The budget of the office is EUR1.5 million per year [of which EUR1.08 million has been approved). After that the next round of negotiations on the continuation of funding based on the results of the reforms will be held," the press service of the Ukrainian presidential administration said.

The project office will deal with anti-corruption, judicial and deregulation reforms. It is also planned for it to perform advisory functions on providing compliance with uniform standards in developing and planning reforms and reporting on the progress of their implementation.

"The peculiarity of Ukrainian reforms is that they are established by the civil society. The project office will allow the use of ideas and proposals of activists, international partners and government officials to achieve maximum results," Ukrainian Minister of Economic Development and Trade Aivaras Abromavicius said during the signing of the memorandum.

The minister noted that the establishment of a new coordination authority is important, given the ministry's initiative regarding the deregulation of the Ukrainian economy and the reform of state enterprise management.