In Ukraine, they plan to optimize the Cabinet of Ministers in order to reduce the number of ministries from 20 to 12, including the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture, and central executive bodies by 30%.
The transformation should take place due to the need for savings and the mass migration of Ukrainians, reports Mind.
Before the full-scale Russian invasion, there were about 170 citizens per official. The maintenance of civil servants in the former volume becomes unbearable for the budget, in particular because of the "catastrophic failure" of customs and tax revenues. At the moment, almost all departments and central executive bodies are undergoing staff reductions, but there are still about 170,000 officials.
“So far, we have reached the starting point from which we are preparing to restart the civil service in Ukraine,” said Natalia Alyushina, head of the National Agency of Ukraine for Civil Service.
She noted that there is a paradox - a shortage of qualified personnel with an obvious redundancy of the apparatus, and specialists are leaving the public sector. This dilemma should be resolved before the end of 2022 in order to be taken into account in the state budget next year.
“This is only a framework that can and will change repeatedly. In particular, under the pressure of external circumstances and the wishes of coalition partners, if they are formed,” the material says.
While a full list of the proposed changes has not yet been provided , it is expected that the Ministry of Economy, which is still one of the most influential in the country, will further strengthen this status by changing its name to the Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation.
The Ministry for Strategic Industries, which is delaying the powers of a number of industries, is proposed to be liquidated, as well as to merge the State Customs Service and the State Fiscal/Tax Service, which are the main donors of the budget.
“This association seems logical, but its implementation will be hampered, including by an ambiguous background. Namely, the existence of the Ministry of Revenues and Fees (informally - Minzdokh), which has become one of the symbols of abuse in the last years of Viktor Yanukovych's rule," the article noted.
As part of the transformation, the Ministry of Natural Resources will lose its subjectivity and become part of the Ministry of Energy. The functions of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, which was liquidated in 2019 and resumed in 2020, are planned to be transferred to the Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation.
"Despite the significant importance of the agro-industrial complex in the economy of Ukraine (however, it will inevitably fall due to a reduction in production volumes and especially exports), the liquidation of the relevant ministry seems quite logical," Mind noted.
Former minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Roman Leshchenko was unable to take a second chance for the ministry and establish horizontal ties with the industry and colleagues. The current Minister Nikolai Solsky, being a business partner of Andrei Bogdan, has never been and has no chance of becoming one of his own for the authorities. He owes his appointment to the post only to the promise to "save the sowing crop", which his predecessor was not capable of. However, his status in the Cabinet of Ministers is rather formal, which does not have the best effect on the status of people who agreed to join his team.
Another reason is a significant reduction in financial resources for state subsidies to the agricultural sector.
“They have already tacitly informed everyone that you can’t count on subsidies, including farm subsidies. The presence of a ministry that has nothing to do, but requires funding from the budget, can raise fair questions from representatives of the industry,” said one of the ideologists of the reform.
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