The 3rd “Financial Resilience of Communities” Forum has opened in Lviv, bringing together more than 250 participants. Members of parliament and local councillors, community leaders, financiers, economists, representatives of state authorities, financial institutions and international organisations have joined the event.
Throughout the forum, participants are discussing the financial capacity of communities, the mobilisation of international resources, as well as solutions that can strengthen the resilience of local self-government in wartime. Attention is being paid to how communities interact with the government and parliament, and to issues related to the formation of the state and local budgets.
Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovyi highlighted the complexity of long-term budget planning due to uncertainty over the parameters of the state budget and proposed developing common rules of engagement between all levels of government. He also reminded participants of the potential of local taxes and fees which, according to preliminary estimates, could generate up to UAH 30 billion in additional revenues nationwide if communities are granted greater powers over their administration.
Particular attention in the speeches was devoted to international financial support. Andriy Sadovyi noted that a significant share of the state budget is currently made up of funds from international partners, while communities are able to attract resources from funds and financial institutions. At the same time, Lviv, despite having the capacity to attract larger amounts of funding, faces constraints related to the borrowing ceiling.
First Deputy Mayor of Lviv Andriy Moskalenko stressed that the forum is focusing on decisions that directly affect the development of the state and of communities, in particular the formation of local and state budgets and how democratic countries can strengthen their resilience. He noted that Lviv is sharing its experience on these issues with colleagues from other communities.
Deputy Head of the Cooperation Section of the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine Silvan Hungerbühler emphasised that the current resilience of Ukrainian communities and institutions is the result of long-term preparatory work, reforms and constant efforts to improve the functioning of the public administration system, and not only a consequence of the full-scale invasion.
The forum has been organised on the initiative of the Lviv City Council with the support of SECO (FG4R project), the FELICITY II programme (GIZ), the “U-LEAD with Europe” Programme, UNICEF (EMPOWER) and the POLARIS project. These programmes work to strengthen the financial capacity of communities, improve public finance and investment management, support community recovery and development, and ensure effective use of public resources, taking into account the needs of children and young people. The event is co-organised by the civil society organisation “Union of Proactive Lviv Residents” (CSO “SIL”).