The International Rating of Openness (Transparency) of the Budget "Open Budget Index": Ukraine in the Context of International Comparisons

The aim of the study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the place of Ukraine among other countries by the level of budget openness, to specify the disadvantages inherent in different groups of countries in order to justify the directions of increasing the efficiency and transparency of the budget process and budget management in Ukraine. The methodology of calculating the Open Budget Index, which is calculated by the International Budget Partnership since 2006, is explored. Based on the analysis of the Reports of 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2015 years, the results of a comparative analysis of the position of Ukraine among the rest of the world by the level of openness (transparency) of the budget using the data of the Open Budget Index are presented. A grouping of countries was conducted using a matrix approach to establish the relationship between the levels of the Open Budget Index and the levels of public participation, oversight by legislature and oversight by the Supreme Audit Institution. Taking into account the number of countries covered by the Opne Budget Index, a detailed analysis of the indicators of a group of 28 countries in Europe and Central Asia, covering 27.5% of all countries covered by the study, and which includes Ukraine, has been made. Taking into account the indicators presented in the Report of the International Budget Partnership, in order to more accurately characterize the content of the evaluated processes, the feasibility of using the title "Index of Openness (Transparency) of Budget Management" is substantiated. The necessity of the analysis of the influence of the quality of budgetary management on other international indices has been substantiated in order to reveal their interrelation and to substantiate the directions of development of the system of budget management. The shortcomings inherent to various groups of countries of the world with the purpose of substantiation of directions of increase of efficiency and transparency of budgetary process and budget management in Ukraine are specified. The results of the comparative analysis show that more attention should be paid to public participation, since at a low level of this indicator it is not possible to reach a high level of Open Budget Index, even by creating an effective system of supervision and control by the legislature and Supreme Audit Institution.