"Ukrainian Local Governments' Finance on the Threshold of a New Millenium: Will Interbudgetary Reform Meet Public Needs"?

• Author: Slukhai, Sergii
• Position: International Finance - Abstract

Sergii Slukhai

Public Budgeting & Finance, Fall 2002, pp. 46-66.

Since the declaration of Ukraine's independence in 1992, local government finance has retained most of the characteristics of the Soviet era. Public finance in Ukraine remains highly centralized, with funds flowing from the national government to the regional governments, from the regional governments to the district governments, and so forth. This system is known as "budgetary matryoshka." Under this system, local governments deliver public services according to national standards and expenditure norms through a system of shared revenues. Intergovernmental bargaining among different levels of government has resulted in the unequal distribution of revenues among regions. Despite some experimentation with municipal bonds, borrowing remains an undeveloped revenue source for local governments. The new Budget Code adopted in March 2001 has...