As part of partnership with the Vinnytsia Oblast State Administration, the DESPRO Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support Project in Ukraine will carry out the analysis of current state of credit financing for the development of water supply and sanitation infrastructure in the Oblast under the "Drinking Water" Programme, study foreign experience of similar credit programmes implementation and carry out a number of workshops for local partners so that the best practices are incorporated in the credit programme. 

It is a reminder that in May 2018 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine made amendments to the Procedure for Using Budget Funds to Implement the "Drinking Water of Ukraine" National Target Programme. In particular, there were introduced mandatory requirements to regional projects - they should contain approved design documents and confirmation of co-financing from local budgets or other sources in the amount of not less than 10 per cent. 

At the Vinnytsia Oblast State Administration, they even took things a step further -it is required that, starting from 2016, the funding for the development of water supply infrastructure facilities is not to be provided in the form of grants but on credit basis. The funds are operated by Oblast municipal company "Vinnytsia Oblast Investment Assistance Fund". That credit programme of regional level is new to Ukraine, and the Vinnytsia Oblast State Administration gained support from the DESPRO Project in terms of its deployment and improvement. 

- For a number of years running, the DESPRO extends technical assistance for the implementation of the "Drinking Water of Ukraine" programme both at the national and regional levels; and it means both expert assistance and funding for the infrastructure, expert of the DESPRO Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support Project in Ukraine Vyacheslav Sorokovsky noted. - The cooperation with Vinnytsia Oblast State Administration regarding the development of the regional credits programmes is a unique opportunity and, pretty much, an honourable challenge. Since, in the context of decentralisation, it will be required to amend the regional sectoral policy. Our main objective is to improve the programme of budget credits, in particular, to increase the capacity of local partners in implementing those arrangements. Accordingly, we will work both in terms of updating the legal framework, procedures, and rules and the practical element of the programme implementation.