At the beginning of October the representatives of the Public Finance for Development (PFD) Programme travelled to Kiev to find out about the progress in the process of Public Finance Management reform (PFMR) ongoing in Ukraine. The Objectives of the Mission were simple: to Introduce consultants contracted to contribute to the implementation of the PFMR led by the Finance Ministry of Ukraine; to discuss the potential areas for cooperation in the period 2017-2019; and to discuss work plan for Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) methodology preparation.
Last year Ukraine became third partner country of Public Finance for Development (PFD) programme – funded by the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic (MF SR) and implemented by UNDP for Europe and CIS. Following this important decision of the Project Board, a Needs Assessment for Public Finance Management Reform was elaborated in the period October 2015-February 2016. Based on the recommendations stated in the needs-assessment report, it was decided by the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance (MF UA) to start with a pilot budgeting project and at the same time to provide advice to the MF UA on the design and implementation of the revised PFMR Strategy.
PFD main actors: MF SR and UNDP are currently in the process of planning and designing the new phase of the PFD programme. Because of the relevance of continuation with supporting Ukraine in the reform efforts the mission to Ukraine was meant to reveal the potential areas for further cooperation in the period 2017-2019.
PFD representatives: Ms Alena Srankova (the Implementator representative – PFD Programme Manager, UNDP) and Ms Marianna Macaskova (the Donor Representative – International Relations Directorate, MF SR) talked to UNDP Country office in Kiev (involved in Public Administration Reform in Ukraine), the EU Delegation and the German development agency GIZ, being active in the field of the PFM, about the objectives within the PFD framework and planned activities related to the consultants’ assignments.
Slovak consultant: MTEF advisor, Mr Jan Marusinec, discussed the Current MTEF practices and weak spots, as well as a Work plan with the Director of Budget Department of Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. Another consultant: UNDP Senior Advisor, Sander Winckel, is responsible for preparation of the draft of implementation plans for PFMR programme’s subcomponents, which will be implemented by UNDP in 2017.
Building partnerships with donors and to identifying opportunities for partnerships with other external stakeholders was an essential part of PFD mission to Ukraine. Mr Winckel discussed these topics with several other representatives of the main involved institutions and potential donors, such as: Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, EU Delegation to Ukraine, World Bank, GIZ, Embassy of the Netherlands in Ukraine, UNDP Kiev and IMF. All these partners were informed about PFMR Strategy updates. UNDP and MF SR will follow the progress of updating the PFM strategy and will continue discussions with MF UA on possible areas of cooperation to support the PFM strategy implementation.