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On 18 September, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (VRU) adopted Law of Ukraine № 3979-IX “On amendments to the Budget Code of Ukraine to restore medium-term budget planning at the local level and bring certain provisions thereof in compliance with the laws of Ukraine”.

The Law should ensure the predictability of budget policy and compliance with the principle of unity of the budget system of Ukraine, increase the efficiency of local financial management, stabilise the economic development of municipalities and strengthen social support for its members.

• It restores medium-term budget planning at the local level.
• It clarifies the classification of debt, and now debt obligations can arise not only for the regional council but also for the settlement and village municipality.
• Local guarantees for local borrowing may now be provided by town, settlement, and village municipalities to ensure the fulfilment of debt obligations of business entities - residents of Ukraine that are communal property of a town, settlement, or village municipality, and that implement investment projects for the development of communal infrastructure or the introduction of resource-saving technologies.
• The chief budget funds administrator is empowered to control the timely return in full to the budget of funds provided under budget lending operations, as well as loans received by the state, regional council, town, settlement or village municipality, and funds provided under state (local) guarantees.
• It expands the list of information to be reflected in the monthly report on the implementation of the State Budget of Ukraine, which will be submitted by the State Treasury Service to the VRU, the President of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (CMU), the Accounting Chamber and the Ministry of Finance. The report will now contain not only information on state guarantees provided, but also information on the status of local debts and debts guaranteed by regional councils and municipalities, as well as on local guarantees provided.
• Payments related to the fulfilment of the guarantee obligations of the regional council and town, settlement or village municipality will be included in the expenditures of the local budget development budget.
• During the period of martial law, free balances of local budgets and balances of the local budget development budget, which were formed at the end of the budget period, are directed by decisions of the relevant local councils (military administrations) to managers and/or recipients of budget funds for the following purposes:
• payment of labour and salary accruals,
• purchase of medicines and bandages and provision of food,
• payment for utilities and energy, repayment of accounts payable at the end of the budget period, servicing and repayment of local debt, social protection and social security,
• creating conditions for the treatment, recovery and rehabilitation of persons affected by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine,
• arrangement of places of temporary stay for internally displaced (evacuated) persons,
• measures and works on territorial defence and mobilisation training, support of security and defence forces,
• design, construction, reconstruction, repair, and arrangement of civil defence protective structures (shelters, anti-radiation shelters), and dual-purpose structures with protective properties,
• acquisition of primary (mobile) shelters,
• repair and arrangement (adaptation) of premises that are planned to be used for sheltering the population,
• design, construction, reconstruction and repair of critical infrastructure, social and cultural facilities, social protection and residential facilities damaged or destroyed as a result of such armed aggression,
• measures to prevent and eliminate emergencies (including the creation of regional and local material reserves), and increase the volume of the reserve fund,
• construction of fortifications,
• support for enterprises engaged in the production, transportation, and supply of thermal energy,
• centralised cold water supply and sewerage, purchase of modular boilers to provide alternative heating for households, institutions and organisations,
• design, construction, and repair of heating systems,
• co-financing from local budgets, and
• payments related to the fulfilment of guarantee obligations of the regional council, town, settlement or village territorial community, and purchase of government securities with a maturity of more than one year.

Such expenditures may be made by providing an inter-budgetary transfer from the relevant local budget or by purchasing goods (works, services) for further transfer to budgetary institutions that are funded from other budgets.

During the period of martial law, the local budget forecast may not be prepared if the territory of the municipality or its settlements are considered to be in active hostilities or temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation and are included in the list of territories in which active hostilities are (were) conducted or temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, as well as adjacent territories, by the procedure established by the CMU.

On 21 September, the Law of Ukraine № 3948-IX “On amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine on improving the mechanism for providing land to defence forces” of 4 September 2024 came into force.

This Law introduces a simplified procedure for changing the designated purpose of especially valuable land and forest land plots for the location of military units, institutions, military educational institutions, enterprises and organisations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations established by the legislation of Ukraine.

This Law amended the Land Code of Ukraine, the Law of Ukraine “On the use of defence land”, and the Law of Ukraine “On the State Land Cadastre”.

The Law expands the list of possible grounds for changing the designated purpose of especially valuable land and forest land plots in case of their use for purposes other than forestry, in case such land plots are classified as defence land and used for the following purposes:

• supporting the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and other military formations established by the laws of Ukraine, Ministry of Defence, Intelligence Agencies, the State Border Guard Service, and the Security Service;
• for the placement of military units, military educational institutions, enterprises, institutions and organisations that are under the management of the above bodies and/or are part of the structure of the AFU, and other military formations established by the laws of Ukraine.

On 26 September, VRU Resolution № 3984-IX “On renaming certain settlements and districts” of 19 September 2024 came into force.

Fulfilling the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On condemnation and prohibition of propaganda of Russian imperial policy in Ukraine and decolonisation of place names”, taking into account proposals submitted by local governments and settlement military administrations, and recommendations of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory and the National Commission on State Language Standards, the VRU changed the names of 327 settlements (including 10 towns, 56 settlements and 261 villages) and 4 districts.

On 26 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1115 “On amendments to the Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine № 346 of 14 April 1997 ’On approval of the Procedure for granting annual basic leave of up to 56 calendar days to senior employees of educational institutions and establishments, educational (pedagogical) units (subdivisions) of other institutions and establishments, pedagogical, scientific and pedagogical staff and researchers’ and № 1160 of 28 October 2021 ‘Some issues of ensuring the organisation and provision of educational services to children undergoing inpatient treatment or receiving rehabilitation assistance’”.

This Resolution grants an annual basic leave of 56 calendar days to the deputy director for educational and methodological work, the head of the educational and methodological centre, and the head of the department in charge of the main activity area.

On 26 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1114 “On the implementation of a joint project with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to provide financial assistance to general secondary education institutions for the 2024/25 academic year”.

This Resolution launched the implementation of the above project and approved its ‘Procedure and Conditions’, by which 350 general secondary education institutions that will be included in the list of priority institutions by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MESU) will receive a one-time assistance of UAH 290,500 during the 2024/25 academic year.

A prerequisite for including institutions in the priority list is that they meet one of the following conditions:

• the State Register of Property Damaged and Destroyed as a Result of Hostilities, Terrorist Acts, Sabotage Caused by the Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine does not contain any records of the damaged or destroyed property of the institution; or
• the aforementioned State Register contains records of damaged or destroyed property of the institution, but according to the results of the survey conducted by the Methodology for Conducting the Survey and Drawing Up its Results, approved by the order of the Ministry of Regional Development, such objects are classified as Category I damage or are restored in full.

To be included in the priority list, general secondary education institutions that meet the above prerequisites must meet one of the following conditions:

• They are in Dnipropetrovska, Donetska, Zaporizka, Luhanska, Mykolaivska, Odeska, Sumska, Chernihivska, Kharkivska, Khersonska regions and:
• are located within municipalities with a very high, high, moderate or satisfactory level of security risk in the education system by the list of municipalities by the level of security risk in the education system approved by the order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine;
• provide or have resumed providing the educational process in full-time, a combination of full-time and distance learning for at least 200 students from 2 September 2024;
• have civil protection facilities that fully meet the needs for the accommodation of students and staff;
• They are in regions other than the above and meet the following criteria:
• provide full-time education, or a combination of full-time and distance education, for at least 50 children of internally displaced persons;
• have civil protection facilities, which by their type are anti-radiation or simple shelters, shelters or dual-purpose facilities;
• The institution is the only one within the municipality that provides full-time education, or a combination of full-time and distance education.

Proposals for including institutions in the priority list are submitted to the MESU by the Aid Distribution Commission established by the MESU with the involvement of representatives of the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories and UNICEF. Assistance is provided for the following expenses:

• providing children with meals in institutions (except for the purchase of food), in particular:
• repair of school canteens (canteens);
• procurement of installation and repair of equipment for school canteens (canteens) and spare parts for it;
• preparing institutions for the winter period and taking measures to increase the energy independence of institutions, in particular:
• heating, insulation, replacement of windows and doors, procurement of necessary materials, fuel, equipment and spare parts;
• procurement and installation and repair of electricity and/or heat generating equipment and spare parts;
• procurement and installation and repair of installations that produce electricity and/or heat from alternative sources;
• repair of internal and external engineering networks and systems of institutions, including water supply, heating, electrical, ventilation, and sewerage networks;
• transporting and storing purchased equipment and spare parts, as well as the necessary materials and fuel.

On 26 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1113 “On approval of the Procedure for formation and verification of electronic permanent residence permits and electronic temporary residence permits and their electronic copies”.

The above-mentioned e-certificates will be generated free of charge by means of the Diia Portal at the request of a person who has received a permanent residence permit or a temporary residence permit by the procedure established by law. They will contain the following information: name of the certificate; surname, full name in Ukrainian and Latin letters; gender; citizenship(s); date of birth; unique number of the entry in the Register; document number; date of issue of the document; date of expiry of the document; authorised entity that issued the document (code); digitised signature of the person; grounds for obtaining an immigration permit (code); place of birth; digitised image of the person's face; registration number of the taxpayer's registration card from the State Register of Individual Taxpayers; and address of the declared/registered place of residence (stay) and date of declaration/registration (if available in the Register and/or departmental information system of the State Migration Service).

On 26 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1111 “On amendments to the Procedures approved by the Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 681 of 23 June 2021 and № 254 of 5 March 2024”.

This Resolution updates the Unified State Electronic System in the Field of Construction, stipulates that its administrator will be the state enterprise ‘Administrator of the Urban Planning Cadastre at the State Level’ and defines the scope of its powers.

On 26 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1110 “On amendments to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine № 410 of 25 April 2018 ‘On contracts for medical services to the population under the Medical Guarantees Programme’”.

According to the amendments, a contract for medical services to the population under the Medical Guarantees Programme may be concluded for more than one calendar year, but not more than three calendar years, exclusively with:

• healthcare institutions regardless of their form of ownership,
• individual entrepreneurs who have obtained a licence to carry out economic activities in medical practice by the procedure established by law and provide primary healthcare and/or emergency medical care,
• cluster and supercluster healthcare institutions defined in the agreement.

In case of amendments to the contract due to changes in the procurement terms and specifications of healthcare services, the National Health Service will analyse the compliance of such healthcare providers with the procurement terms and specifications of healthcare services based on the information contained in the electronic healthcare system.

The Customer will suspend payment for medical services in the following cases:

• If the provider fails to send the customer timely reports on medical services and other information provided for in the contract;
• if the provider refuses to agree on amendments to the agreement due to changes in the tariff for payment for the provision of medical services, adjustment coefficients to it, the planned cost of medical services determined by the legislation for the relevant period, in case of changes in the procurement conditions and specifications;
• if the provider fails to enter medical documentation into the system;
• If the provider fails to fulfil other obligations specified in subclauses 14, 18, 19, 23, 25-27, 35, 36 of clause 19, clauses 20 and 28 of the contract until the date of elimination of the relevant violations.

This Resolution shall enter into force on 1 January 2025.

On 26 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1108 “On amendments to Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine № 1418 dated 29 December 2009 ‘On approval of the Procedure for payment of long-service allowance to medical and pharmaceutical employees of state and municipal healthcare institutions’”.

The list of medical and pharmaceutical employees who are paid the above-mentioned longevity allowance has been updated to cover the following:

• heads of healthcare institutions, their deputies from among doctors,
• deputy chief physicians in charge of nursing,
• heads of structural units from among doctors, chief nurses,
• doctors of all specialities, healthcare professionals in healthcare institutions,
• professionals with higher non-medical education in the field of healthcare,
• Heads of pharmaceutical institutions, their deputies, heads of structural units consisting of pharmacists and pharmacy assistants,
• pharmacists of all specialities, healthcare professionals with a professional junior bachelor's degree, junior bachelor's degree, bachelor's degree, including non-medical education, masters in nursing;

The above Procedure is extended to rehabilitation specialists, while removing entomologist assistants from eligible categories.

On 24 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1094 “On amendments to the list of construction works that do not require documents entitling to perform them and after which the object is not subject to commissioning”.

According to the amendments, it is not necessary to obtain documents entitling them to perform such works and to accept them into operation in the case of re-equipment of internal heating, ventilation, water supply and sewage systems.

On 24 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1090 “On amendments to certain resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on simplifying the Procedure for appointment and payment of one-time financial assistance in case of death or disability of certain categories of persons in accordance with the Law of Ukraine ‘On the status of war veterans and guarantees of their social protection’”.

This Resolution approves a new version of the Procedure. From now on, the Ministry of Veterans' Affairs will decide on the appointment of the above-mentioned one-time financial assistance and pay it by crediting funds to the recipient's bank account:

• in case of death or declaration of missing persons referred to in paragraphs 1-6 of the Law - from the date of their death, as indicated in the death certificate, or from the date of entry into force of the court decision on declaring the person missing, in the amount of 750 subsistence minimums established by law for able-bodied persons as of 1 January of the calendar year in which such persons died;
• in the case of disability for persons referred to in paragraphs 11-16 of part two of Article 7 of the Law, from the date specified in the certificate of the medical and social expert commission, in the amount of 250 to 400 subsistence minimums established by law for able-bodied persons, depending on the disability group.

The application and supporting documents can be submitted directly to the Ministry by post or through the Administrative Service Centres, regardless of the applicant's registered place of residence.

On 20 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1092 “Some issues of recognition of goods as humanitarian aid under martial law”.

Under this Resolution, a simplified mechanism was introduced for the period of martial law for the recognition of passenger cars (without limiting their engine capacity) imported into Ukraine and transferred for the needs of healthcare institutions of state and municipal ownership or institutions authorised by the Ministry of Health to receive medicines, medical devices, consumables, medical equipment, personal protective equipment and other goods necessary for the proper provision of healthcare.

On 20 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1074 “On amendments to certain Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the use of civil defence facilities”.

With these amendments, this Resolution updated the classification of civil defence and dual-purpose protective structures. It also:

• introduced the particularities of construction of civil protection structures (dual-purpose structures) put into operation before 2023, taking into account the likelihood of new construction standards (SBCU B.2.2-5:2023);
• established the particularities of planning and conducting comprehensive, control and unscheduled inspections of the objects of the civil protection fund, as provided for in part 15 of Article 32 of the Civil Protection Code; and
• changed the procedure for the formation, maintenance and exclusion of objects from the Protective Structures Fund.

Therefore, the Protective Structures Fund will now also be created by local governments and business entities, other legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, in accordance with the Civil Protection Code. It will be created by:

• mandatory inclusion of completed shelters, radiation shelters, and dual-purpose structures;
• comprehensive development of underground space of cities and other settlements for placement of social, industrial and economic facilities that can be used to shelter the population as dual-use structures;
• construction of protective structures/dual-purpose structures;
• adaptation of the underground part of the metro station as a dual-purpose structure;
• restoration of damaged protective/dual-purpose structures;
• reconstruction (with a change of functional purpose) of existing buildings and structures of various functional purposes or overhaul of the relevant facilities;
• adaptation of objects for various purposes, in particular basements other underground facilities, in particular mine and other workings, underground cavities, as simple shelters;
• construction of protective/dual-purpose structures, adaptation of the simplest shelters and manufacturing, installation of primary (mobile) shelters in a special period;
• proactive acquisition and maintenance of primary (mobile) shelters.

The assets of the Protective Structures Fund should be maintained by their balance holders in readiness for their intended use.

On 13 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1055 “Some issues of providing subventions from the state budget to local budgets for design, construction and repair works, purchase of housing and premises for the development of family and other forms of upbringing close to family, support of small group homes and provision of housing for orphans, children deprived of parental care and persons from among them”.

According to this Resolution:

• the amount of the above subvention was distributed among all regional budgets in 2024 in the total amount of more than UAH 563 million;
• amendments to the CMU Resolutions No. 564 ‘On approval of the Regulation on
• amily-type children's homes’ of 26 April 2002 and No. 615 ‘Some issues of providing orphans, children deprived of parental care, and persons from among them with housing and support for small group homes’ of 26 May 2021.

Therefore, because of the changes made in 2024:

• during a state of emergency or martial law, the service for children's affairs, which has drawn up a report on the state of upbringing, maintenance and development of children in a family-type children's home that has been temporarily relocated (evacuated) within Ukraine, must send the said report within 10 working days to the body that decided to establish and ensure the functioning of such a family-type children's home;
• the subvention mentioned above is used for the following purposes:
• purchase of housing in commissioned residential buildings for family-type children's homes in need of housing in safe regions and temporarily displaced (evacuated) outside Ukraine and planning to return to Ukraine;
• purchase of housing for family-type children's homes temporarily displaced (evacuated) within Ukraine;
• purchase of housing for the creation of new family-type children's homes;
• support for small group homes, by the ‘Procedure for supporting small group homes’, approved by CMU Resolution No. 615 of 26 May 2021;
• the conditions for granting the above subvention have been changed; and
• the distribution of the subvention between local budgets will be carried out by regional state administrations (military administrations) within 30 working days from the date of entry into force of the CMU Resolution № 1055 of 13 September 2024.

On 10 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1046 “On amendments to the Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine N 176 ‘On approval of the Rules for the provision of passenger road transport services’ of 18 February 1997 and N 103 ‘On approval of the Regulation on the State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety’” of 11 February 2015.

By the amendments, the decision to open or close a bus station is made by the business entity providing services at the bus station, with mandatory notification of the local government body on whose territory the bus station is located. If it is impossible for the bus station to provide services, this must be confirmed in writing by the station’s owner.

On 6 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1052 “On amendments to the Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 303 ‘On termination of state supervision (control) and state market supervision measures under martial law’ dated 13 March 2022 and N 550 ‘On termination of state control of non-food products under martial law’” dated 3 May 2022.

According to the amendments, during the period of martial law, state market surveillance measures are still allowed concerning the following objects:

• electrical and electronic equipment;
• space heaters and combined heaters;
• movable equipment operating under pressure;
• personal protective equipment;
• lifts and safety components for lifts;
• medical devices and their auxiliary products; medical devices for in vitro diagnostics and their auxiliary products; active implantable medical devices;
• wheeled vehicles, new parts and equipment that can be installed and/or used on wheeled vehicles.

On 6 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1043 “On amendments to the Procedures approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine N 738 dated 21 June 2022”.

This Resolution amended the “Procedure for providing microgrants for establishing or developing own business” and the “Procedure for providing grants for establishing or developing own business to combatants, persons with disabilities as a result of war and members of their families”, which were approved by the above-mentioned CMU Resolution No. 738 ‘Some issues of providing grants to business’. According to the amendments:

• a mandatory condition of the microgrant agreement must be the creation of jobs (within 6 months from the date of crediting the funds), the number of which depends on the amount of the microgrant received, and the employment of persons within 24 months during the three-year project implementation period;
• if the recipient has paid taxes and fees, and a single contribution to the obligatory state social insurance for employees in a lesser amount than the amount of the microgrant received during the 3-year project implementation period, such difference in the social insurance must be returned by the recipient no later than the last working day of the month in which the 3-year project implementation period expires;
• the amount of the grant provided to one recipient is up to UAH 250,000 for its commitment to create each job, up to a maximum grant amount of UAH 1 million; and
• grants from UAH 500,000 and up to UAH 1 million are provided subject to co-financing by the recipient in the following proportions: 70% of the project cost at the expense of the grant and at least 30% at the expense of the recipient (own or credit funds, or funds from local budgets and/or other sources not prohibited by law).

On 6 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1041 ‘Certain issues of granting the status of combatant in the period of martial law in an automatic mode’.

This Resolution approved the Procedure for automatically granting the status of combatant in areas of military (combat) operations or in the temporarily occupied territories. The Resolution amended the “Procedure for granting and depriving the status of combatant of persons who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, who directly participated in the anti-terrorist operation, ensuring its conduct or in the implementation of measures to ensure national security and defence, repulsion and deterrence of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, ensuring their implementation, and measures necessary to ensure the defence of Ukraine, protection of the security of the population and the interests of the state in connection with the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine”, approved by the CMU Resolution No. 413 of 20 December 2014’, approved by the CMU on 20 August 2014, No. 413.

So, now, those persons who were enrolled in a volunteer municipal formation and took part in combat (service, special) tasks directly in the areas of military operations or in the temporarily occupied territories will be able to obtain the status of combatants automatically.

On 6 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1037 “On amendments to the Procedures approved by the Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine N 444 of 26 June 2013 and N 819 of 23 October 2013”.

This Resolution amended the following acts of the Government:

• “The Procedure for training the population to act in emergency situations”, approved by the CMU Resolution No. 444 dated 26 June 2013;
• “The Procedure for training of managers and specialists whose activities are related”, approved by the CMU Resolution No. 819 of 23 October 2013.

Therefore, educational institutions must now create an adequate material and technical base to ensure that the requirements of educational programmes aimed at teaching preschool children and students safety measures, ways to protect against the impact of hazards caused by emergencies, and first aid are met.

On 6 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1034 “On amendments to the Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 989 ‘On approval of the Procedure for holding public hearings in the process of environmental impact assessment’ and No. 1026 ‘On approval of the Procedure for transferring documents for providing an environmental impact assessment conclusion and financing environmental impact assessment and the procedure for maintaining the unified register of environmental impact assessment’”.

The amendments have the following effects:

• Public hearings will be held during the public discussion of the planned activity after the submission of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report, but not earlier than on the 10th business day from the date of entering the necessary information into the EIA.
• During the period of martial law, the organiser of public hearings is obliged to ensure that they are held via video conference.
• Requirements for mandatory details of a decision to refuse to issue an EIA conclusion have been updated.
• The form of notification of planned activities subject to EIA is amended. Now, it will be necessary to indicate the list of territorial communities that may be affected by the business entity's activities.
• The list of information to be kept in the registration file in the Unified Register of EIA has been updated.
• Notification of planned activities subject to EIA and announcement of the start of public discussion of the EIA report will be submitted by the business entity by filling in an electronic form and confirmed by the qualified electronic signature of such person through the electronic cabinet of the Register. All other EIA documents will be submitted by the business entity in electronic form to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine or its authorised territorial body.

On 6 September, the CMU adopted Resolutions № 1028 “On renaming the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine and the Ministry of Community, Territorial and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine” and № 1027 “On certain issues of implementing measures to complete the reorganisation of the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine”.

By these acts of the Government, the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine is renamed the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine.’

On 6 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1026 “On amendments to the Procedure for temporary relocation (evacuation) of children and persons residing or enrolled in institutions of various types, forms of ownership and subordination for 24-hour stay, and their return to the place of permanent residence (stay), and in the case of travel outside Ukraine - to Ukraine”.

This Resolution amended the above-mentioned Procedure approved by the CMU Resolution № 546 of 1 June 2023. So now the facility to which the temporary relocation (evacuation)/return of children is planned must have civil protection facilities, and dual-purpose facilities suitable for sheltering children and staff and ensuring their safe stay. The regional state (military) administrations will preliminarily examine the compliance of the buildings of such institutions with the established requirements.

On 3 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1039 ‘On the implementation of a pilot project for creating and implementing a digital integrated information and analytical system “Single Platform for Housing and Communal Services”’.

This Resolution launched the implementation of the above-mentioned pilot project within 2 years. It also approved the Procedure for the implementation of the above-mentioned pilot project; the Regulations on the digital integrated information and analytical system ‘Single Platform for Housing and Communal Services’ and the form of the Memorandum of Agreement on joining the pilot project. The participants of the pilot project are:

• Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovs'k, Lviv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy regional military administrations and Kyiv city military administration;
• local self-government bodies (upon agreement).

Managers of apartment buildings and utility companies are encouraged to join the pilot project, which aims to achieve the following objectives:

• creating a unified information system that will automate processes related to providing and receiving services, as well as providing subsidies to the population to reimburse the costs of paying for services, and the processes of interaction between entities, monitoring and control in the service sector;
• creating electronic cabinets with a dynamic set of services depending on access rights and user status and with the possibility of their modification by changes in legislation;
• developing new approaches to monitoring and controlling the status and quality of services;
• reducing the processing time for applications, complaints and other documents related to the provision and receipt of services;
• introducing a targeted approach to assessing the level of satisfaction of target customers with the status, continuity, quantity and quality of service provision; and
• studying the possibility of making transactions in the service sector in electronic form using a single unified information system.

On 3 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1008 “On amendments to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine N 78 ‘Some Issues of implementation of certain provisions of part 1 of Article 57 and part 4 of Article 61 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On education’ dated 31 January 2001’”.

By the amendments, the health improvement allowance for annual leave will be paid to pedagogical employees at their main place of work in the amount of their monthly salary (wage rate), regardless of the weekly (annual) teaching load or the amount of work performed.

From now on, the length of teaching experience that gives the right to receive a longevity allowance will also include the time when teachers did not work, but by the law, they retained their place of work (position) and/or salary in full or in part (including the time of paid forced absence), caused by unlawful dismissal or transfer to another job, as well as the time of their work as pedagogical and scientific and pedagogical employees outside Ukraine (except for the aggressor state and states against which Ukraine has imposed sectoral sanctions by the Law of Ukraine ‘On sanctions’) based on a contract.

On 3 September, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1007 “On approval of the Procedure for submitting information on decisions on establishing tax benefits for payment of land fees (land tax and rent for state and communal land plots) and tax on real estate other than land plots”.

By the approved Procedure, village, settlement, town councils and military administrations must submit quarterly information to the controlling authorities at the location of land plots, land shares, and residential and/or non-residential real estate objects within 15 days after the end of the tax quarter on decisions to establish the above tax benefits in the form specified in this Resolution.

In addition, by clause 12.3 of Article 12 of the Tax Code of Ukraine, village, settlement and town councils, within their powers, shall adopt resolutions on the establishment of local taxes and fees and tax exemptions for the payment of local taxes and fees by 15 July of the year preceding the budget period in which the local taxes and/or fees are to be applied, and on amendments to such resolutions.

On 26 September, the CMU issued Order № 913-r “On the distribution of subventions from the state budget to local budgets for the provision of safe conditions in general secondary education institutions in 2024”.

This Order allocated almost UAH 60 million between the regional budgets of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions and the budget of the Vyshhorod urban municipality in Kyiv region.

On 20 September, the CMU issued Order № 897-r “On approval of the Action Plan for the restoration of education in the de-occupied territories for 2024-2027”.

This Government act approved the above-mentioned Action Plan, and local governments (with their consent) were also designated responsible for implementing most of its measures.

On 20 September, the CMU issued Order № 893-r “On the allocation of funds from the reserve fund of the state budget to cover expenses for June 2024 of state, communal and private property”.

According to this order, more than UAH 21 million was allocated to compensate for expenses incurred in June 2024 by the owners of state-owned, municipal and private buildings (premises) where internally displaced persons were accommodated free of charge during the period of martial law, of which more than UAH 16 million was distributed among the regional budgets of all regions of Ukraine and the city of Kyiv.

On 17 September, the CMU issued Resolution № 884-r “On approval of the State Target Programme for Integrated Water Supply of the Territories affected by Military Operations for the period until 2030”.

The state target programme is aimed at increasing the level of guaranteeing public access to renewable, safe and affordable water sources in the territories of Dnipropetrovska, Kirovohradska, Donetska, Zaporizka, Luhanska, Mykolaivska, Odeska, Kharkivska and Khersonska regions. It is expected that the programme will be implemented until 2030 and will be financed in the amount of UAH 8.247 billion from the state budget, UAH 3 billion from local budgets, and UAH 42.94 billion from other sources.

On 6 September, the CMU issued Order № 850-r “On the redistribution of the amount of educational subvention from the state budget to local budgets in 2024”.

This Order redistributed the funds of the educational subvention between the regional budgets of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Kherson regions in the total amount of over UAH 37 million.

On 20 September, the MESU issued Order № 1349 “On certain issues of organising professional support and assistance to teachers (supervision) in the field of general secondary education”. This Order approves the ‘Plan for the cycle of professional training and assistance to pedagogical staff (supervision) in the field of general secondary education’.

On 13 September, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) issued the following clarification: ‘Notification of significant changes in property status: who should submit it and under what conditions?’

The clarification notes that the following categories of persons are required to submit the above notification by part four of Article 52 of the Law of Ukraine “On prevention of corruption”:

• Officials holding responsible and especially responsible positions. According to the Law of Ukraine “On prevention of corruption”, they include persons holding positions referred to the first - third categories of local self-government officials;
• Persons holding positions associated with a high level of corruption risks. According to the NACP Order № 249/23 “On approval of the list of positions with high and increased level of corruption risks” of 06 November 2023, these include, in particular, the following positions:
• heads of permanent commissions established in region, district, Kyiv and Sevastopol city councils, whose competence includes consideration of issues in the field of budget, construction, land relations and municipal property;
• city (cities of district significance) mayors, settlement and village heads;
• heads of enterprises engaged in urban development, housing and communal services; use and protection of land, natural resources and environment; socio-economic development; transport and road facilities; property management, trade and business development, appointed (contracted) by the mayor of Kyiv and Sevastopol.

The obligation to report a significant change in property status arises when a person has received income, acquired property or made expenditures over 50 subsistence minimums established for able-bodied persons as of 1 January of the relevant year (in 2024, from UAH 151,400).

On 9 September, Order №1231 of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MESU) dated 30 August 2024 “On approval of the list of municipalities by the level of security risk in the education system” came into force.

According to the above List, all municipalities in Ukraine are divided into the following groups, according to security risk in the education system: I. Insurmountable level; II. Very high level; III. High level; IV. Moderate level; and V. Satisfactory level.

The distribution was made by MESU based on the ‘Methodology for assessing security risks in the education system related to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine’, approved by the CMU on 2 August 2024, № 866.

The assignment of a municipality to the relevant risk group will affect the development, implementation and evaluation of educational policies, and scenarios for the development of the municipality’s educational space, as well as the establishment of priority measures to organise the shelter of staff and students in civil protection facilities and the prioritisation of funding for such measures.

The list of municipalities is available on a specially created dashboard.

On 26 September, the Supreme Court published a Digest of its case law in war-related cases.

This publication was made with the assistance of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Support Programme for Ukraine as part of the project ‘Support to the Supreme Court and Higher Courts in Implementing Judicial Reform and Ensuring Access to Justice in Times of War’. The Digest contains the legal positions of the Supreme Court, formulated between February 2022 and September 2024 in disputes:

• related to compensation for damage caused as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation;
• related to the forced alienation/seizure of property under martial law;
• arising from labour relations;
• arising from housing legal relations;
• arising from family legal relations;
• arising from land relations;
• related to the definition of the powers of local self-government bodies under martial law;
• related to crossing the border of Ukraine during martial law;
• related to the enforcement of court decisions.

The Supreme Court expressed its position on the possible grounds for early termination of powers of the secretary of a local council (Decision of the Supreme Court of 11 September in case № 320/9942/22).

In paragraph 32 of the Decision, the Supreme Court came to the following conclusion: ‘The powers of the secretary of the village council may be terminated early if there are good reasons and objective circumstances that make it impossible for him/her to continue to perform his/her duties or harmful to the council's activities. The list of grounds for termination of service specified in the law is not exhaustive... That is, the same motives and circumstances must be contained in the decision of the local self-government body, the content of which would make it clear what exactly prompted it to make such a decision.’

In addition, the Supreme Court emphasises that the grounds for the decision to terminate the powers of the council secretary must be communicated to the deputies of the council, so they must be aware of the grounds for dismissal of the council secretary.

The Supreme Court expressed its position on whether the State Inspectorate of Architecture and Urban Development of Ukraine has the authority to file a lawsuit to declare unlawful and invalid a local council's decision on urban development (Resolution of the Supreme Court of 10 September in case № 560/177/23).

In paragraph 71 of the aforementioned ruling, the Supreme Court states that the State Inspectorate of Architecture and Urban Development of Ukraine does not have the right to file a claim with the court to declare unlawful and invalid the decision of the relevant local council of a regulatory nature in the field of urban development, and, therefore, the prosecutor acting in the interests of the state in its person does not have this right either.