Although Ukrainian cities are becoming more transparent, but the overall dynamic of transparency growth is declining every year. According to the results of 2020, the average transparency score has increased by 4.4%. In 2019, this figure was 6%; in 2018, it was 38%. 

What are the reasons?

First, proactive cities have already implemented “simple” indicators that do not require significant financial, technical, or human resources. Implementing more complex ones is more complicated, and not all municipalities are ready to take up this challenging task. 

Secondly, COVID-19 has highlighted existing gaps and significantly narrowed the citizens' access to public information.  

As a result, over the past year, 51 city councils have lost their positions in the Transparency Ranking. 

Certain cities have dropped in the Ranking, even gaining extra points. This indicates increased competition and increased requirements for city councils for transparency and accountability.

Which cities lost the most points in a year?

Lysychansk

In 2020, the city lost 13.7 points. This is the highest decline in scores among all 100 cities in the Transparency Ranking. The city has a drop in overall scores in 10 out of the 14 spheres. During the year, the city dropped immediately by 41 positions. We should note that since August 2020, civil-military administration has taken over the governance in Lysychansk. However, the methodology is designed to assess the transparency of local authorities.

Vyshneve

Vyshneve has shown deterioration in 9 out of 14 spheres of research. Five spheres — “Municipal property,” “Investments and economic development,” “Procurement,” “Housing policy,” and “Social Services”— have no points. The city has improved the results in the transparency of municipal enterprises management. As a result, the overall score decreased by 12.5 points, and the city dropped from 67th to 95th place.

Nizhyn

In 2020, the indicators of the city council decreased in 8 out of 14 spheres. So, the overall score decreased by 11.8 points, and the city dropped by 26 positions in the Ranking. Thus, the transparency of “HR matters,” “Budgeting process,” “Land use and construction policy,” and “Municipal enterprises” has halved. Nizhyn has increased the transparency of “Education” and “Financial assistance and grants” spheres.

Zhytomyr

According to the results of the Ranking, the overall score of Zhytomyr decreased by 10 points due to the deterioration of the implementation of indicators in 6 spheres: “Municipal property,” “Information on the work of local authorities,” “Access and participation,” “Procurement,” “Budgeting process” and “Housing policy.” The city lost 9.9 points and was in the 26th place (12 → 26). 

Marhanets

Compared to the results of 2019, the city council has shown deterioration in 8 areas and dropped from 53rd to 87th place in the Ranking. The city's scores decreased in such spheres as “Municipal enterprises,” “HR matters,” “Municipal property,” and “Budgeting process.” At the same time, the level of transparency in the “Education” area has increased.