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Ukraine

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, Subnational

IRM Review

IRM Report: Ukraine End-of-Term Report 2014-2016, Ukraine IRM Report 2014 – 2015

Starred: No

Early Results: Major Major

Design i

Verifiable: Yes

Relevant to OGP Values: Access to Information , Public Accountability , Technology

Potential Impact:

Implementation i

Completion:

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

  1. Infrastructure Data Portal

    UA0070, 2018, Anti-Corruption

  2. Open Standard for e-System

    UA0071, 2018, E-Government

  3. Ensuring Openness and Transparency of Selling Public Assets and Property

    UA0072, 2018, E-Government

  4. Transparency in Public Procurement (Prozorro)

    UA0073, 2018, Access to Information

  5. Awarenss Raising About Social and Economic Development

    UA0074, 2018, Aid

  6. e-Calls for Proposals to Support CSOs

    UA0075, 2018, Civic Space

  7. Beneficial Ownership Registry

    UA0076, 2018, Anti-Corruption

  8. Anti-Corruption Training

    UA0077, 2018, Anti-Corruption

  9. Publishing Environmental Information

    UA0078, 2018, E-Government

  10. Database of Natural Resources

    UA0079, 2018, Access to Information

  11. Interactive Map of Mines

    UA0080, 2018, E-Government

  12. Priority Electronic Services

    UA0081, 2018, Citizenship & Immigration

  13. Online Platform for Executive Bodies and CSOs

    UA0082, 2018, Civic Space

  14. EITI Online Data

    UA0083, 2018, Access to Information

  15. Electronic Resources for Education

    UA0084, 2018, Access to Information

  16. Online Verification of Education Certificates

    UA0085, 2018, E-Government

  17. Free Access to National Repository for Academic Texts

    UA0086, 2018, E-Government

  18. Administrative Service Decentrilisation and Improvement

    UA0057, 2016, Capacity Building

  19. United State Portal Extension; Electronic Government Information Services Unification; Modern Tools for Electronic Identification

    UA0058, 2016, Capacity Building

  20. System for Entities Performing Government Functions

    UA0059, 2016, Anti-Corruption

  21. Free Urban Planning Documentation

    UA0060, 2016, E-Government

  22. Beneficial Ownership Verification System

    UA0061, 2016, Anti-Corruption

  23. CoST Beneficial Ownership Standards

    UA0062, 2016, Anti-Corruption

  24. Transpartent Budget System

    UA0063, 2016,

  25. Starred commitment Open Public Procurement

    UA0064, 2016, Access to Information

  26. Starred commitment Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

    UA0065, 2016, Anti-Corruption

  27. Environmental Public Monitoring

    UA0066, 2016, Access to Information

  28. Community Policing System

    UA0067, 2016, Education

  29. Draft Law on Public Consultations

    UA0068, 2016, Legislation & Regulation

  30. Development of E-Democracy.

    UA0069, 2016, E-petitions

  31. Improve Government Rules on CSO Involvement

    UA0031, 2014, E-Government

  32. Financing of Charities

    UA0032, 2014, Civic Space

  33. Not-For-Profit Status for CSOs

    UA0033, 2014, Civic Space

  34. Public Participation Law

    UA0034, 2014, E-Government

  35. Establishing Rules on Processing Official Information

    UA0035, 2014, Access to Information

  36. Access to Urban Planning Documents

    UA0036, 2014, E-Government

  37. Starred commitment Access to Communist-Era Archives

    UA0037, 2014, Legislation & Regulation

  38. Starred commitment Draft Law on Open Data

    UA0038, 2014, Access to Information

  39. Starred commitment Supervisory Mechanism for the Right to Information

    UA0039, 2014, Access to Information

  40. Compliance with EITI

    UA0040, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  41. Monitoring of Infrastructure Projects

    UA0041, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  42. Adopt Regional Anti-Corruption Programmes

    UA0042, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  43. Corruption Risk Assessment Methodology

    UA0043, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  44. Starred commitment Asset Disclosure on a Single Web Portal

    UA0044, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  45. Law on Administrative Procedure

    UA0045, 2014, Legislation & Regulation

  46. Law on Streamlining Payment of Administrative Fees

    UA0046, 2014, E-Government

  47. Administrative Services Portal

    UA0047, 2014, Access to Information

  48. Draft Law on Decentralisation of Administrative Services

    UA0048, 2014, Legislation & Regulation

  49. Draft Law on Social Services

    UA0049, 2014, E-Government

  50. e-Government Laws

    UA0050, 2014, E-Government

  51. Electronic Readiness Assessment

    UA0051, 2014, E-Government

  52. Government Regulations on Open Data

    UA0052, 2014, Access to Information

  53. Electronic Democracy Development Roadmap

    UA0053, 2014, E-Government

  54. Open Budget Initiatives

    UA0054, 2014, Access to Information

  55. e-Petitions

    UA0055, 2014, Dispute Resolution & Legal Assistance

  56. e-Governance Training for Local Government

    UA0056, 2014, Capacity Building

  57. Laws on Public Participation

    UA0001, 2012, Civic Space

  58. Amendments to the Law on Community Associations

    UA0002, 2012, Civic Space

  59. Amendments to Resolutions on Collaboration with Civil Society

    UA0003, 2012, E-Government

  60. Training for Public Servants on Consultations

    UA0004, 2012, Capacity Building

  61. Harmonisation of Access to Information Laws

    UA0005, 2012, Access to Information

  62. By-Laws on Access to Information

    UA0006, 2012, Access to Information

  63. Guidelines for Classifying Data

    UA0007, 2012, Public Participation

  64. Public Information Recording Systems

    UA0008, 2012,

  65. Law on Public Broadcasting

    UA0009, 2012, Civic Space

  66. Public Access to Information in State Registers

    UA0010, 2012, E-Government

  67. Starred commitment Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

    UA0011, 2012, Anti-Corruption

  68. Law for Controlling Declarations of Public Servants

    UA0012, 2012, Anti-Corruption

  69. Public Declarations of Officials’ Assets

    UA0013, 2012, Anti-Corruption

  70. Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest

    UA0014, 2012, Anti-Corruption

  71. Updated Anti-Corruption Laws

    UA0015, 2012, E-Government

  72. Regional Anti-Corruption Programmes

    UA0016, 2012, E-Government

  73. Law on Competitive e-Government Procurement

    UA0017, 2012, Anti-Corruption

  74. Starred commitment Administrative Services Reforms

    UA0018, 2012, E-Government

  75. Electronic Access to Administrative Services

    UA0019, 2012, E-Government

  76. Governmental Web Portal of Administrative Services

    UA0020, 2012, E-Government

  77. Administrative Services in a Digital Format

    UA0021, 2012,

  78. Starred commitment Regional Administrative Service Centres

    UA0022, 2012, Public Service Delivery

  79. Programme for Promotion of e-Government

    UA0023, 2012, E-Government

  80. Electronic Collaboration Between Executive Agencies

    UA0024, 2012,

  81. Web-Based Petitions System

    UA0025, 2012, E-petitions

  82. One Stop Shop for e-Reporting

    UA0026, 2012, E-Government

  83. e-Region Pilot Project

    UA0027, 2012, E-Government

  84. Network of e-Government Practitioners

    UA0028, 2012, Public Participation

  85. Public Libraries as Bridges Towards e-Governance

    UA0029, 2012, E-Government

  86. e-Government Knowledge Management Portal

    UA0030, 2012,

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