Ukrainian local self-government needs additional tools for funding infrastructure development to address social issues first. Issuing municipal bonds is one of such tools.

Therefore, on April 15, DESPRO jointly with Ukrainian Capital Markets Association (UCMA) held an online discussion on the current state and prospects of legislative changes regarding the development of the municipal bond market.

The meeting participants were financial experts, representatives of the Verkhovna Rada, professional associations, and the National Securities and Stock Market Commission.

The currents matters of issuing infrastructure and social bonds by municipalities, were discussed, namely:

✅ Adoption of Law №2284, which allows local government bonds to be issued

✅ Currently relevant matter of issuing so-called "coronabonds", a type of social bonds

✅ Proposals for reformatting the draft Law "On Local Development Fund Bonds" into a draft Law "On Local Development Funds"

✅ Implementation of a “revolving mechanism” of financing development projects by local governments

The following decisions were made:

✅ to submit proposals for the second reading of Bill 2284,

✅ to invite the Minregion to hold a joint online conference on the possibility of issuing municipal bonds to counteract the negative socio-economic consequences associated with the COVID-19 pandemic,

✅ to prepare the draft Law "On Local Development Funds" on the basis of the draft Law "On Local Development Fund Bonds"

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