Resolution-clone project 5655: how did the Ministry of Infrastructure process the comments from public discussions?
The Ministry of Infrastructure announced that it conducted public discussions on the controversial draft resolution-clone of the urban planning reform (5655).
Comments were submitted by: the public initiative “Golka”, the Institute of Legislative Ideas, the National Union of Architects of Ukraine, MP Anna Bondar (“Servant of the People”), a number of representatives of local self-government, and the “People’s Power” party.
The comments of the public initiative “Golka”, which concerned, among other things, the protection of cultural heritage, were not taken into account.
Screenshot from the appendix to the report of the Ministry of Reconstruction on public discussions
Were the comments taken into account during the discussions?
Iryna Fedoriv
Chairperson of the public initiative "Holka"
Our analyst Georgiy Mohylnyi prepared a document of almost 100 pages and published a series of analytical articles. Everything is clearly argued there: the myth of the so-called "automation" is debunked, and the risks to cultural heritage are outlined. And here I remind you that in the national security strategy of our state, cultural heritage is one of the main components. It is this heritage that the enemy tried and continues to try to destroy before the war and during the war. Therefore, it is surprising that the Ministry of Infrastructure did not take into account at least one of our comments. This is the reality of "public discussions" and their influence on the formation of government policies, as reported by the ministry on the website. At the same time, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, which reviewed our analysis, writes in its document that such actions may create risks for the emergence of a construction cartel. We also sent the same document to the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption. And their response differs from that of the Ministry of Infrastructure. It is worth noting that the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption criticized the clone resolution.
The response of the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) to the comments submitted regarding the clone resolution by the public initiative “Holka”.
As for other remarks, particularly regarding state architectural and construction supervision, this procedure has been completely excluded and is not planned to be adopted. This procedure envisaged the transfer of some powers from the State Architecture and Urban Planning Inspectorate to the Ministry of Infrastructure.
The government may put this clone of the urban planning “reform” up for consideration. This was reported by “Dzerkalo Tyzhnia”.
Recall that at the end of 2022, the parliament supported bill 5655, authored by the leader of the “Servant of the People” party, Olena Shulyak. 228 MPs voted for it, including representatives of the former “Opposition Platform – For Life”. The transcripts of discussions on this bill in the committee disappeared and were not published.
On the same day, a petition addressed to President Volodymyr Zelensky requesting him to veto this bill gained the necessary number of votes. Later, the president emphasized that his decision not to sign this bill, which was criticized by the European Parliament and the European Commission, was his personal decision.
On December 13, 2023, “Dzerkalo Tyzhnia” reported that the Ministry of Restoration was trying to push through a clone resolution of the urban planning “reform” through the government. This attempt was successfully suspended due to the publicity. The Ministry of Restoration started collecting proposals and remarks. However, an incorrect email was provided on the official website.
At the end of March, the “Espresso” TV channel reported an attempt to pay for the removal of material by “Holka” about the scandalous urban planning reform, which mentioned the names of Deputy Prime Minister Kubrakov and MP Shulyak. Earlier, censorship regarding this topic was recorded in the “Government Courier”.
And the Civil Society Institute announced that donors had stopped funding one of their projects due to informal pressure from the Ministry of Infrastructure.
