On August 13 in Poltava, Transparency International Ukraine's Transparent Cities program presented the results of its assessment of Poltava, Kremenchuk, Horishni Plavni, Lubny, and Myrhorod. Analysts concluded that the region's cities have already become considerably better at disclosing information, but accountability, work with open data, the explanation of budget decisions, and reporting remain weaker areas.
Poltava is part of the sample of 11 municipalities that Transparent Cities is using to pilot the European City Index. In August, the team reassessed the city and separately analyzed the basic transparency and accountability practices of four other communities in the region. The program will present the full results of the European City Index in September.
Olesia Koval, Transparent Cities Program Manager, pointed out that communities are working amid war and a shortage of qualified staff, resources, and time. However, martial law and the absence of elections are making other means of overseeing local government more important: reporting, access to information, consultations, and genuine participation by residents. European integration also requires communities to make local procedures, services, and data more understandable for people.
“The cities of Poltava region have learned to be moderately open with information. Now they need to learn to build mature, lasting relationships. Such relationships are needed so that the decisions taken are more effective and take residents' views into account, and so that engagement with the authorities does not come down to formal involvement,” Olesia Koval noted.
The head of the Poltava community, Kateryna Yamshchykova, remarked that while internal processes and procedures may be clear to city council staff, residents should not have to spend time figuring them out:
“When you work inside this structure, the topics, the terminology, and the way various processes move along are clear to you. But it's a completely different situation when you're a resident of the community who isn't obliged to understand all the bureaucratic procedures. People should have simple, hassle-free access to information, and the information itself should be presented in an accessible way.”
According to Yamshchykova, external monitoring helps the city see its weak spots and identify exactly what is worth changing. She noted that over six months of work, Poltava has already managed to get some processes moving.
The results for the region's other cities revealed a range of strengths and weaknesses. Kremenchuk arranged a public report by the mayor with an opportunity for residents to ask questions, and it published both written and video materials. In Lubny, information on the monitoring of the city's Development Strategy is available. Myrhorod held an open public report by the mayor. At the same time, the cities still face problems with budget accountability, the availability of basic documents, strategic planning, and open data.
Oleh Chernenko, Senior Project Manager at the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative, stressed that studies make sense only when city authorities are ready to use them for real change.
“Formal changes are the worst thing that can happen. They demotivate us, residents, and even some of the city council staff who wanted to change something,” he said.
The discussion also touched separately on how the authorities communicate with residents during the war. If decisions are not explained clearly and on time, the information vacuum is quickly filled by other sources. That is why it is important for city authorities to work not only with what they want to communicate, but also with what the community actually has a demand for.
Nataliia Deriabina, a civil society representative, pointed out that civil society organizations often help people find information about services and programs on city council websites. This is especially important for those who do not use modern gadgets or cannot find the service they need on their own. That is why a clear website structure and up-to-date information have very real practical value.
Based on the assessment, Transparent Cities recommended that communities report regularly on the implementation of their strategies, structure key information on their websites more effectively, develop their engagement with residents, and strengthen budget accountability and transparency in the management of humanitarian aid.
City councils can also use the Transparent Cities self-assessment forms to check their own practices across key areas and gain reference points for further work.
This research was prepared with the support of the MATRA program of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine.