OREANDA-NEWS. December 23, 2008. The Ministry of Regional Development and Building of Ukraine was the venue for presentation of a draft Memorandum on mutual understanding to maintain dialog on regional policy and development of regional cooperation between the Ministry of Regional Development and Building of Ukraine and the European Commission.

The draft document contains that Ukraine and enlarged European Union face such challenges as disproportions of development of the regions, urbanization, restructuring of countryside, rehabilitation of territories suffering from industrial decline and natural catastrophes. Hence, the parties plan to maintain the dialog on regional policy and development of regional cooperation which will facilitate to strengthening of mutual understanding and reinforcement of bilateral cooperation that will also embrace issues of joint concern for both Ukraine and the European Union.

Such dialog is aimed, as the Memo contains it, at: cooperation and exchange with information in respective directions of the policy which facilitate to economic growth, raising of competitiveness, employment level and quality of life and achievement of better territory balance; exchange with information concerning development and introduction of regional policies paying peculiar attention to the ways of stimulating the development of neglected territories and intensifying of transborder cooperation and social and economic development of border regions; exchange with practices in terms of realization of forms of multi-level governing and a partnership principle in the regional policy, notably of principles of good governance on regional and local levels; support and facilitation to cooperation between Ukrainian and European regions, and also between representatives of local, regional and central authorities etc.

The draft Memorandum is being completed by the Ministry of Regional Development and Building. It is planned to be signed the first quarter of 2009.