PERFORMANCE INDICATORS DETERMINE THE ADMINISTRATIVE-TERRITORIAL DIVISION OF UKRAINE

In December 2019 by the President of Ukraine. Zelensky was presented the Draft law of Ukraine «On amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine (regarding the decentralization of power) No. 2598 from 13.12.2019 G. (hereinafter — the law) [1]. Experts note that the Bill contains specific provisions which may affect, for example, the process of de-communization (provided that the name of the settlement can only be changed taking into account the views of the local population); budget issues (we are talking about the decision, which oblige the state, in case it had damaged the local budgets to offset the costs); the authority of the public service associated with limited duration of stay on positions, the operation of the office of prefect [2]. Finally the Constitution is a social contract, in the process of making which is an important element of the broader discussion, a public announcement of the purpose of the Bill, its discussion with the involvement of the constitutional experts, representatives of public organizations, taking into account the views of ordinary citizens (including the referendum) is an important element in public perception of the proposed innovation, achieving a balance between the state and civil society. Given the fact that the Bill has the status prompt and received unprecedented support of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on legal policy of a broad discussion on the question of discussing the content of the bill is not expected. However, in our opinion there is a need for discussion of the Bill, taking into account the positions of experts and representatives of relevant public organizations. Given the above, the purpose of this article is to conduct an analysis of the draft Law of Ukraine «On amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine (regarding the decentralization of power) No. 2598 from 13.12.2019 G. and the search of indexes of efficiency of the administrative-territorial division of Ukraine. In our opinion, the strategy for the decentralization reform has not yet passed a full cycle of discussions and consultations. The above reflections of the author regarding the performance indices of reform do not claim to absoluteness, but are intended to promote the development of constitutionalism in Ukraine, the development of decentralization processes. To summarize, we note that the Constitution is the social contract, the content of which determines the development of the state for decades, and possibly centuries.It is important when introducing amendments to the Basic Law to introduce a broad discussion, publicly declaring the purpose of the Bill, the procedure for implementing its provisions, should be involved in the discussion of leading experts-constitutionalists, representatives of public organizations, take into account the views of ordinary citizens, including institutions of direct democracy. In the end, it will ensure public acceptance of the proposed innovations, achieving a balance between the state and civil society. In our opinion, the reform of local self-government should be aimed at the realization of specific goals related to the well-being of both citizens and the community as a whole, the division of responsibilities between central and local self-government bodies, avoiding duplication of administrative functions, «equalization» financing between more affluent and less financially prosperous communities. We believe that the reform strategy should be based on indicators of its effectiveness, which at the same time are signals to society about the ultimate expectations of decentralization.