There is currently no public information on how much property the state owns, its condition, and value. The Unified Register of Objects of State-Owned Property has been running obsolete software since 2005 and is not available to citizens. In addition, it contains many errors and distortions, and therefore does not allow to consider it as a reliable source of data.
The Register also lacks technical passports and geolocation marks of objects. The information is stored and accounted improperly, only the balance number and the short description of the object are indicated.
The current register is inaccessible for the public, and extracts on objects are provided only to authorized entities of property management, i.e., the legal entity on the balance of which such object is, as well as public authorities, their officials if the request is made in connection with the exercise of their powers under the current legislation.
All this significantly complicates the long-term planning of privatization and lease, but also makes it impossible to form a holistic vision of public property management reform. In addition, citizens cannot exercise public oversight in this area, although in fact public property belongs to the community.
That is why TI Ukraine is systematically working on this problem and has already held a strategic session on the reform of public property accounting. Representatives of the Parliament, ministries, the State Property Fund of Ukraine, and the Reforms Delivery Office of the Cabinet of Ministers joined the work on changes.
“An open register of state-owned objects will help to understand more the economic effect of managing the country’s assets. It will also contribute to more efficient management decisions on privatization, lease, or concession,” commented Khrystyna Zelinska.
The participants of the event agreed that it was important to improve the work of the register and control over public property management, to make the system of information collection more transparent and, thus, increase the efficiency of management.
Transparency International Ukraine is working with the State Property Fund on a joint project to develop a new Register of Public Property. Together with key stakeholders, a Roadmap for Public Property Accounting Reform is to be developed as well. It envisages both changes in the current legislation and the development of a new, improved IT platform.
The register will contribute to more efficient management decisions on privatization, lease, or concession.
