Open Budget Initiatives (UA0054)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Ukraine Second Action Plan 2014-2015
Action Plan Cycle: 2014
Status: Inactive
Institutions
Lead Institution: Ministry of Finance
Support Institution(s): Derzhinformresurs National Centre for e-Governance, East Europe Foundation, Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine, other civil society institutions and international organisations, local self-governance bodies (by consent)
Policy Areas
Access to Information, E-Government, Fiscal Openness, Open Data, Publication of Budget/Fiscal Information, SubnationalIRM Review
IRM Report: Ukraine End-of-Term Report 2014-2016, Ukraine IRM Report 2014 – 2015
Starred: No
Early Results:
Major
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Access to Information , Public Accountability , Technology
Implementation i
Description
Partner implementation of pilot initiatives related to provision of budget information in an open and accessible form on the national, oblast and local levels
IRM End of Term Status Summary
22. Open budget initiatives
Commitment Text: 22. Partner implementation of pilot initiatives related to provision of budget information in an open and accessible form on the national, oblast and local levels.
Expected result: “How much does the State cost?” web-portal created; Open City platform implemented in 15 administrative-territorial units; at least 5 pilot initiatives implemented for public awareness-raising on budgeting and creating user-friendly budget information.
Lead institution(s): Ministry of Finance
Supporting institution(s): Ministry of Regional Development
Start Date: Not specified End Date: 31 December 2015
Commitment aim
This commitment attempted to pilot initiatives on open budgets at different levels using online instruments. NGOs in Ukraine pioneered the preparation and publication of information on local budgets and their execution in a user-friendly manner. In the OGP action plan, the government committed to supporting this work and making budget information available in an accessible format for the first time, including through data visualisation.
Status
Midterm: Completed
The commitment and its deliverables, as originally worded, did not produce transformative reforms. They included some important steps and pilot projects. However, the government managed to exceed its plan and launch a far-reaching initiative to open up information on all budgetary transactions. Civil society organisations in Ukraine originally supported the idea of opening budgetary information, but in a user-friendly manner through visualisation and explanation, not just in bulk disclosure. The local self-government authorities and national government followed suit, providing access to data and publishing visualised data on official websites. The OGP process further promoted innovative tools under this commitment, for example, “The Price of the State” and “Open City” websites.
The commitment was successfully implemented, and even exceeded targeted results. The government reported that an NGO—the Centre for Political Studies and Analytics—with donor support, launched a website and developed an open budget software tool for local self-government authorities (http://www.openbudget.in.ua). The web portal allowed for the creation of an interactive visualisation of local budgets, based on the financial and statistical data of local authorities, and their publication on the websites of local councils. A number of local authorities joined the project in 2015.[Note 108: Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) Progress Report 2014-15: Ukraine, 69.]
The website, “The Price of the State” (http://costua.com), was successfully launched and administered by the NGO, CASE-Ukraine, with donor support. It provided visualised, accessible data on state budget revenues and expenses, debt, taxes paid, etc. As of October 2015, the platform, “Open City” (http://opencity.in.ua), contained about 18 cities, with more than 30,000 reports per year and about 300 improvements per month as a result of citizen reports.[Note 109: Ibid, 69.]
Also, in February 2015, Parliament passed an advanced Law on the Openness of Use of Public Funds. The law required publication of all data related to public expenses on a single web portal, including real-time data on treasury transactions. In September 2015, the government adopted regulations required for the launch of the relevant web portal,[Note 110: Instruction of 14 September 2015 #911 on the set up and functioning of the single web portal on public money use, http://bit.ly/1KQGltn; Resolution of 14 September 2015 #694 on the procedure for administering the single web portal on public money use, http://bit.ly/1hfJBE4; and Resolution of 14 September 2015 #676 on the procedure for publication on the single web portal on public money use of information on payment transactions of the treasury account, http://bit.ly/1Ocw9zf.] and allocated funds. On 15 September 2015, the Ministry of Finance, with support from NGOs and donors, launched a test of the web portal (http://edata.gov.ua).[Note 111: See official announcement about the launch of the portal at: http://bit.ly/1YucqYM. ]
Initiatives described in the previous report have been further developed. According to the website, http://opencity.in.ua, 27 cities are connected to the platform, 34 messages are posted weekly, 414 improvements are accomplished monthly, and more than 29,000 comments are left on the website each year. The Open Budget IT tools to visualise local budgets (available at http://www.openbudget.in.ua) has been used by 50 cities and regions.[Note 112: http://openbudget.in.ua/?locale=uk.]
Did it open government?
Access to information: Major
Public Accountability: Did not change
The website, “The Price of the State,” educated citizens about their taxes and how they are spent by the state, thereby providing information in user-friendly format and explaining complex financial concepts. According to a representative of the Centre for Political Studies and Analytics Eidos, the ability to track public finances through the portal has provided citizens with usable, quality information about state spending.[Note 113: Interview with Volodymyr Tarnay, Centre for Political Studies and Analytics Eidos, 20 June 2017.] The website, “Open City,” led to real-time reporting of hundreds of local problems, and identified the relevant municipal services that resolved the issues.
The 2015 Law on the Openness of the Use of Public Funds was transformative as it required publication of detailed information on public expenditures by every budgetary unit, including real-time data on treasury transactions. This was a commendable achievement, though it was not part of the OGP action plan. A significant amount of budgetary data has been published, which resulted in a much higher level of openness and public scrutiny over the use of public funds. For example, open data introduced through the public finances web portal have been useful to journalists and private sector organizations, such as Youcontrol and Liga. It was also important that the Ministry of Finance introduce access to data through APIs. This allowed the development of further services from the open data available on the portal.[Note 114: Ibid.] The government has yet to ensure full compliance with the law’s requirement.
Carried forward?
The commitment was carried over to the new action plan as a more specific task focused on the Transparent Budget information system.
Commitments
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Expand budget transparency system
UA0087, 2020, Anti-Corruption
-
Transparency of public assets
UA0088, 2020, Access to Information
-
Create general education distance learning system
UA0089, 2020, E-Government
-
Open Science
UA0090, 2020, Access to Information
-
Online platform for patents and innovation
UA0091, 2020, Capacity Building
-
Audit of beneficial ownership register
UA0092, 2020, Anti-Corruption
-
Expand uses for e-democracy platform
UA0093, 2020, Access to Information
-
Electronic system for transparency in extractive industries
UA0094, 2020, Anti-Corruption
-
Establish National Centre for Open Data Competence
UA0095, 2020, Access to Information
-
Digital accessibility for persons with disabilities
UA0096, 2020, E-Government
-
Increasing youth participation in policy
UA0097, 2020, Capacity Building
-
Publish information related to road system
UA0098, 2020, E-Government
-
Register for infrastructure contract information
UA0099, 2020, Anti-Corruption
-
Publish gender-disaggregated open data
UA0100, 2020, Access to Information
-
Infrastructure Data Portal
UA0070, 2018, Anti-Corruption
-
Open Standard for e-System
UA0071, 2018, E-Government
-
Ensuring Openness and Transparency of Selling Public Assets and Property
UA0072, 2018, E-Government
-
Transparency in Public Procurement (Prozorro)
UA0073, 2018, Access to Information
-
Awarenss Raising About Social and Economic Development
UA0074, 2018, Aid
-
e-Calls for Proposals to Support CSOs
UA0075, 2018, Civic Space
-
Beneficial Ownership Registry
UA0076, 2018, Anti-Corruption
-
Anti-Corruption Training
UA0077, 2018, Anti-Corruption
-
Publishing Environmental Information
UA0078, 2018, E-Government
-
Database of Natural Resources
UA0079, 2018, Access to Information
-
Interactive Map of Mines
UA0080, 2018, E-Government
-
Priority Electronic Services
UA0081, 2018, Citizenship & Immigration
-
Online Platform for Executive Bodies and CSOs
UA0082, 2018, Civic Space
-
EITI Online Data
UA0083, 2018, Access to Information
-
Electronic Resources for Education
UA0084, 2018, Access to Information
-
Online Verification of Education Certificates
UA0085, 2018, E-Government
-
Free Access to National Repository for Academic Texts
UA0086, 2018, E-Government
-
Administrative Service Decentrilisation and Improvement
UA0057, 2016, Capacity Building
-
United State Portal Extension; Electronic Government Information Services Unification; Modern Tools for Electronic Identification
UA0058, 2016, Capacity Building
-
System for Entities Performing Government Functions
UA0059, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Free Urban Planning Documentation
UA0060, 2016, E-Government
-
Beneficial Ownership Verification System
UA0061, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
CoST Beneficial Ownership Standards
UA0062, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Transpartent Budget System
UA0063, 2016,
-
Open Public Procurement
UA0064, 2016, Access to Information
-
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
UA0065, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Environmental Public Monitoring
UA0066, 2016, Access to Information
-
Community Policing System
UA0067, 2016, Education
-
Draft Law on Public Consultations
UA0068, 2016, Legislation & Regulation
-
Development of E-Democracy.
UA0069, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Improve Government Rules on CSO Involvement
UA0031, 2014, E-Government
-
Financing of Charities
UA0032, 2014, Civic Space
-
Not-For-Profit Status for CSOs
UA0033, 2014, Civic Space
-
Public Participation Law
UA0034, 2014, E-Government
-
Establishing Rules on Processing Official Information
UA0035, 2014, Access to Information
-
Access to Urban Planning Documents
UA0036, 2014, E-Government
-
Access to Communist-Era Archives
UA0037, 2014, Legislation & Regulation
-
Draft Law on Open Data
UA0038, 2014, Access to Information
-
Supervisory Mechanism for the Right to Information
UA0039, 2014, Access to Information
-
Compliance with EITI
UA0040, 2014, Anti-Corruption
-
Monitoring of Infrastructure Projects
UA0041, 2014, Anti-Corruption
-
Adopt Regional Anti-Corruption Programmes
UA0042, 2014, Anti-Corruption
-
Corruption Risk Assessment Methodology
UA0043, 2014, Anti-Corruption
-
Asset Disclosure on a Single Web Portal
UA0044, 2014, Anti-Corruption
-
Law on Administrative Procedure
UA0045, 2014, Legislation & Regulation
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Law on Streamlining Payment of Administrative Fees
UA0046, 2014, E-Government
-
Administrative Services Portal
UA0047, 2014, Access to Information
-
Draft Law on Decentralisation of Administrative Services
UA0048, 2014, Legislation & Regulation
-
Draft Law on Social Services
UA0049, 2014, E-Government
-
e-Government Laws
UA0050, 2014, E-Government
-
Electronic Readiness Assessment
UA0051, 2014, E-Government
-
Government Regulations on Open Data
UA0052, 2014, Access to Information
-
Electronic Democracy Development Roadmap
UA0053, 2014, Anti-Corruption
-
Open Budget Initiatives
UA0054, 2014, Access to Information
-
e-Petitions
UA0055, 2014, Access to Justice
-
e-Governance Training for Local Government
UA0056, 2014, Capacity Building
-
Laws on Public Participation
UA0001, 2012, Civic Space
-
Amendments to the Law on Community Associations
UA0002, 2012, Civic Space
-
Amendments to Resolutions on Collaboration with Civil Society
UA0003, 2012, E-Government
-
Training for Public Servants on Consultations
UA0004, 2012, Capacity Building
-
Harmonisation of Access to Information Laws
UA0005, 2012, Access to Information
-
By-Laws on Access to Information
UA0006, 2012, Access to Information
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Guidelines for Classifying Data
UA0007, 2012, Public Participation
-
Public Information Recording Systems
UA0008, 2012,
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Law on Public Broadcasting
UA0009, 2012, Civic Space
-
Public Access to Information in State Registers
UA0010, 2012, E-Government
-
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
UA0011, 2012, Anti-Corruption
-
Law for Controlling Declarations of Public Servants
UA0012, 2012, Anti-Corruption
-
Public Declarations of Officials’ Assets
UA0013, 2012, Anti-Corruption
-
Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest
UA0014, 2012, Anti-Corruption
-
Updated Anti-Corruption Laws
UA0015, 2012, E-Government
-
Regional Anti-Corruption Programmes
UA0016, 2012, E-Government
-
Law on Competitive e-Government Procurement
UA0017, 2012, Anti-Corruption
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Administrative Services Reforms
UA0018, 2012, E-Government
-
Electronic Access to Administrative Services
UA0019, 2012, E-Government
-
Governmental Web Portal of Administrative Services
UA0020, 2012, E-Government
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Administrative Services in a Digital Format
UA0021, 2012,
-
Regional Administrative Service Centres
UA0022, 2012,
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Programme for Promotion of e-Government
UA0023, 2012, E-Government
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Electronic Collaboration Between Executive Agencies
UA0024, 2012,
-
Web-Based Petitions System
UA0025, 2012, E-petitions
-
One Stop Shop for e-Reporting
UA0026, 2012, E-Government
-
e-Region Pilot Project
UA0027, 2012, E-Government
-
Network of e-Government Practitioners
UA0028, 2012, Public Participation
-
Public Libraries as Bridges Towards e-Governance
UA0029, 2012, E-Government
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e-Government Knowledge Management Portal
UA0030, 2012,