New Report Finds Better Management of Public Finance at All Levels Will Boost Public Services for Ukrainians

The World Bank and the European Union released today the results of two sub-national Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessments of Khmelnitskyi oblast and Iziaslavskyi region of this oblast. PEFA Assessments were carried out by the World Bank as part of the Parallel European Commission-World Bank Partnership Program for the Reform of Public Administration and Finances (EURoPAF), and closely coordinated with the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine.

While Ukraine’s National PEFA Assessments were conducted in 2006, 2011, 2015, and 2019, with the latter presented last month, no such assessments were carried out at the local level in previous years. For the first time in Ukraine, PEFA Assessments were conducted at all levels of the administrative structure of the country (national and subnational levels), with the aim of measuring how well local governments manage public money, as they spend 45 percent of Ukraine’s consolidated budget. Findings from PEFA assessments will assist both national and local governments in enhancing public service delivery and meeting the evolving needs of citizens.

“Local administrations in Ukraine are primarily responsible for delivering the most critical public services for citizens,” said Alexander Kremer, Acting World Bank Director for Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine. “PEFA assessments present an opportunity to share with the local authorities the best practices of how citizens’ taxes can be used effectively to serve the people’s needs. Ukraine is still on a path to make its local finances more transparent and effective, and the World Bank is ready to help.”

Together with the 2019 National PEFA Assessment, sub-national PEFA assessments provide a holistic and common perspective on the quality of Ukraine’s public finance management systems for all levels. According to the Ministry of Finance, the outcome of the PEFA assessments will inform the revision of the 2017-2020 PFM Reform Strategy.

“Strengthening public finance management should be a priority for Ukraine. Further reforms will lead to better value for money, through stronger public finances and improved public services for Ukrainians,” said Ambassador Matti Maasikas, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine.

PEFA is an international methodology for assessing public financial management performance. It provides a framework for assessing and reporting on the strengths and weaknesses of public financial management, using quantitative indicators to measure performance. To date, almost 640 PEFA Assessments have been conducted in 152 countries.

All three PEFA Assessment Reports for Ukraine (National and Sub-National) are now available on the websites of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, the World Bank, and the PEFA Secretariat.