Strengthening regional development policy

Ukraine’s regional development policy has reached a turning point. The creation of a new State Fund for Regional Development, together with the preparation of a new legislative framework and the formation of new governance arrangements mark the start of a potentially dramatic improvement in the quality of regional policy. This chapter begins with an overview of regional policy in its broader context and a look at past and current policy reforms in Ukraine. It then turns to how Ukraine can improve both the institutional architecture for regional development and the instruments of regional policy themselves. Its overriding theme is the degree to which the success of specific regional policy reforms depends on the government’s success in pursuing its broader programme of reforms to improve the business environment.