Following advice provided by the biggest international financial organizations, business associations and international technical assistance projects, including the European Business Association, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank and others, we have defined 17 key indicators for the research. Some of the indicators are connected with regulatory policy, work with international technical assistance projects, investment proposals etc.

This research is one of the key supplements to the Transparency Ranking of 100 Biggest Ukrainian Cities, implemented by the Transparent Cities program, and it has already made a significant contribution into establishing a healthy competition among cities and setting a new transparency standard for local self-government.

The research shows that only 16 municipalities out of 100 have a geoportal on the official website. Fewer than a half have approved a specific program for entrepreneurship facilitation and fund it. Fewer than 40% of cities have published the investment passport both in English and in Ukrainian. Only 4 cities out of 100 have implemented electronic auctions for seasonal trade placement rights. The remaining results can be found in the report itself and on the website www.transparentcities.in.ua. The investment sector transparency was studied in July and August 2018.

A unique feature of this research is that cities can improve in the index in real time by implementing new transparency standards in their investment sector. We not only measure the current situation, but also try to help active municipal managers and communities to implement the best practices. Our team is convinced that sustainable development of municipalities is one of the principal tools of rapid national economic development. Without city transparency and aptitude in the investment sector, development of entrepreneurship is impossible.

Download the research on this page to find out more.

The post Ensuring Investment Sector Transparency in Cities first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.

• Contacts of executive committee members who are entrepreneurs have been published http://www.vmr.gov.ua/Lists/TheExecutiveCommittee/ShowContent.aspx?ID=24 ;
• The city is connected to the platform helping people to start their own business https://regulation.gov.ua/startup/id13;
• Information on utility networks connected to objects/projects offered for investments by the municipal authorities regardless of their form of ownership is presented in the format of a user-friendly map https://investinvinnytsia.com/invest_maps.

 
Mariupol has improved its score in the Investment Sector Transparency Ranking from 6.75 points to 13 points. The city is currently the runner-up, having moved ahead of the capital, there are two points between Mariupol and the ranking leaders. 
During just a few months, the city managed to implement the following recommendations:

• All effective regulatory acts of the local self-government authorities are now available on the official website: https://mariupolrada.gov.ua/page/reguljatorni-akti-miskoi-radi;
• A separate section for work with investors has been created (in Ukrainian and English) and the investment passport of the community has been published (in Ukrainian and English) https://mariupolrada.gov.ua/en/page/investicijna-dijalnist;
• Contacts of executive committee members who are entrepreneurs https://mariupolrada.gov.ua/executive-committee;
• The city is not connected to the platform helping people to start their own business
• Indicators of effectiveness of city strategy implementation have been published https://mariupolrada.gov.ua/uploads/ckeditor/%D0%95%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BC%D1%96%D0%BA%D0%B0/%D0%A1%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B3%D1%96%D1%8F%202021/Strategy-2021-UKR%20%283%29.pdf;
• The program of entrepreneurship support and development is now funded https://mariupolrada.gov.ua/ru/page/rozvitok-malogo-ta-serednogo-biznesu

Melitopol started implementing TI Ukraine’s recommendations to improve the situation with investment sector transparency, and currently has 8.7 points out of 20, having gotten three points for the following changes:
 

• Now all effective regulatory acts of the local self-government authorities are available on the city website http://mlt.gov.ua/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=48&Itemid=107 ;
• Information on the assessment of the city’s credit rating and indicators of effectiveness of city strategy implementation have been published http://invest-melitopol.gov.ua/index.php/o-melitopole/strategyamelitopol2020

 
Pryluky is one of the cities that failed to respond to information requests when the research was first held, which is why the city received 0 points. But now, the situation has changed – city council representatives have sent us information that we need to assess investment sector transparency, so now, the city has 5.7 points out of 20 based on the following indicators:
 

• The official website contains draft decisions on regulatory acts of the city council and the executive committee;
• Information on utility networks connected to objects/projects offered for investment by the municipal authorities regardless of the form of ownership;
• Information on the investment objects/projects and collaboration of the local authorities with international technical assistance projects and international organizations has been published as well;
• The website also contains all the effective regulatory acts of the local self-government authorities
• A separate section for work with investors has been created (in Ukrainian and English) and the investment passport of the community has been published (in Ukrainian and English) http://pryluky.cg.gov.ua/index.php?id=10075&tp=1&pg=.

 
Besides, according to our colleagues from the BRDO, during the project implementation, 10 cities joined the platform helping people to start their business, and some provided more than 5 cases for the system (which means they use it actively). Cities that provided cases: Mariupol, Zhytomyr, Uzghorod, Odesa, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia. Cities connected to the platform with fewer than 5 cases: Lysychansk, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Drohobych, Mykolaiv.

The post Out of 100 Cities, 4 Proved to Care about Their Transparency Score first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.

The post Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv and Vinnytsia Are Most Transparent for Investors first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.

[i] The complete list of recommendations, which should be performed, is available following this link: https://transparentcities.in.ua/rejtynh-investytsijnoho-sektoru/

The post Presentation of Investment Sector Transparency Ranking Held in Poltava first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.

[i] full list of recommendations:  http://bit.ly/2SZW5nu

[ii] BRDO is a leading independent think tank on regulatory policy in Ukraine. The process is supported by the EU as part of the initiative EU4Business/FORBIZ.

The post Presentation Transparency in Authorities and Investment Sector Held in Nizhyn first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.

The Ukrainian chapter of the global anti-corruption network Transparency International invites you to attend the presentation of the transparency ranking of the 100 biggest Ukrainian cities and of the investment sector, which was developed by the Transparent Cities team. On November 12, at 10 a.m., Nizhyn residents will find out how many points their city has received and how to rise in the ranking.

The event will be held on November 12 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the building of Nizhyn City Council (Nizhyn, 1 Ivan Franko Square). Registration is obligatory at: http://bit.ly/2OkPxMB

During the presentation Nizhyn residents will find out:

– How transparent is the city in each of the 13 spheres of Ranking of the of 100 biggest -Ukrainian cities and what benefits do residents will receive from it?

-Is local government really business friendly?

-Which cities are among the outsiders of the transparency ranking of the investment sector?

-What opportunities are open to cities in the upper part of the ranking and why increasing transparency in the investment area can help not only to attract business to Ukrainian cities but also to fight corruption?

Speakers of the event:

Anatolii Lynnyk – Mayor of Nizhyn;

Alex Dorogan – Operational Director of BRDO;

Andriana Haponiuk – Project Manager on Cooperation with NGOs of ProZorro.Sales;

Anatolii Kotov – Project Coordinator of “From transparency of the investment sector to elimination of corruption risks” with Transparency International  Ukraine;

Kateryna Tsybenko – Transparent Cities Program Manager.

A representative of the business in Nizhyn will be present at the event as well.

To attend the event, registration is obligatory:  http://bit.ly/2OkPxMB .

Deadline: November 9, 2018.

Point of contact: Anatolii Kotov,  kotov@ti-ukraine.org, phone: 0973984638

The project ‘Transparency and Integrity of the Public Sector’ is implemented in cooperation with UNDP Ukraine with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark during 2015-2018.

Ideas, conclusions or recommendations expressed herein belong to the authors and editors of this publication and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, United Nations Development Program or other Agencies of the United Nations.

The post Transparency of Local Authorities and Investment Sector: Nizhyn first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.

The post Are Ukrainian Cities Friendly to Business? first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.

The research of investment sector transparency is the 14th accountability area in the big study Transparency Ranking of 100 Largest Ukrainian Cities, that TI Ukraine has been working on for a year and a half now. It shows that intensification of the competition among cities leads to establishment of new transparency standards for local authorities.

With the help of the biggest international financial organizations, business associations and international technical assistance projects, we have defined 17 key indicators for the investment research. The indicators are connected with the regulatory policy, work with international technical assistance programs, investment proposals and many other things.

The research shows that only 15 communities out of 100 have a city geoportal, fewer than half the cities have approved a special program facilitating entrepreneurship and finance it, and fewer than 40% of cities have published an investment passport in English and Ukrainian. Only 4 cities out of 100 have implemented electronic auctions for sale of seasonal trade placement rights.

What is special about this research is that cities have a chance to improve their position in the ranking in real time mode, implementing investment sector transparency standards according to our recommendations. The project aims at helping active managers in municipalities to use best practices, not just at illustrating the current situation. We believe that sustainable development of cities is one of the key tools of rapid economic development, and it is impossible without transparency and high capacity of cities in investment sector as well as without development of entrepreneurship in communities.

The post Entrepreneurship Development Program Approved in Fewer than Half the Cities — Research first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.

Characterizing the situation with investment sector transparency in Zhytomyr, program coordinator of Transparent Cities with Transparency International Kateryna Tsybenko said: “The positive facts we identified in the course of monitoring are records of discussions of draft regulatory acts uploaded on the city council website, including the course of the debate and proposed amendments. There is no information on which proposals were adopted, but it can be identified by comparing them with the final document. The city got 3 points for this indicator – a rare situation in Ukraine. TI Ukraine recommends to improve the section on investors on the city website. We recommend to have this section and the investment passport in Ukrainian and English, upload information on objects offered for investment and include information on utility networks connected to these facilities.”

Anatolii Kotov, project coordinator of “From Transparency in the Investment Sector to Overcoming Corruption Risks,” characterized the importance of the project as follows: “The project aims at increasing the investment sector transparency on the municipal level. We have analyzed websites of city councils based on 17 indicators which reflect the investment sector (presence of a geoportal, investment passport etc.). The project is supposed to result in improvement of the score in the investment sector transparency ranking of 100 biggest Ukrainian cities in at least 10 of those cities.” TI Ukraine continues to work on transparency in the regions of Ukraine and to motivate representatives of the local self-government to strive for greater transparency. After all, openness and transparency are the principal prerequisites to reduce the level of corruption.

The post Presentation of Investment Sector Transparency Ranking Held in Zhytomyr first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.

This is Lviv’s score for transparency of the investment sector, according to the results of investment sector transparency research carried out with the help of methodology developed by the Ukrainian chapter of the global anti-corruption network Transparency International.

On 17 October, the presentation of Investment Sector Transparency Ranking of 100 Ukrainian Cities was held in Lviv for city council representatives, journalists and activists.

At the event, research results were presented, where Lviv ranked 4th.

Explaining the importance of studying transparency of the investment sector, manager of the Western Ukrainian Office of European Business Association Mariana Lutsyshyn said: “Transparency of cities in the investment sector is an interesting aspect for building the city community and a healthy society in the country in general. The simpler the rules of the game, the more time and space is left for creativity and search of new methods of service delivery, production of goods or communication with the client. Unfortunately, the current situation of the business is a completely different story. We keep fighting for the right to healthy competition and creation of healthy business environment.

“This ranking shows us how open representatives of the local authorities are to investors and what needs to be implemented or changed to attract more investors. I believe this ranking is a good tool to create competition among city authorities. As we all know, healthy competition is a prerequisite for success.”

Anatolii Kotov, project coordinator of “From Transparency in the Investment Sector to Overcoming Corruption Risks,” characterized the importance of the project as follows: “The project aims at increasing the investment sector transparency on the municipal level. We have analyzed websites of city councils based on 17 indicators which reflect the investment sector (presence of a geoportal, investment passport etc.). The project is supposed to result in improvement of the score in the investment sector transparency ranking of 100 biggest Ukrainian cities in at least 10 of those cities.”

TI Ukraine continues to work on transparency in the regions of Ukraine and to motivate representatives of the local self-government to strive for greater transparency. After all, openness and transparency are the principal prerequisites to reduce the level of corruption.

The post Presentation of Investment Sector Transparency Ranking Held in Lviv first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.

How Was the Ranking Compiled?

TI Ukraine carefully studied all the available information on investments in the cities.

They found out whether public events with discussion of policies influencing investment projects are held and whether minutes or recordings of such discussions are published.

They assessed the publication of regulatory acts and the presence of a separate section for investors in Ukrainian and English on the official website, as well as presence of an investment passport of the community in English and Ukrainian.

The ranking also takes into account publication of the city’s credit rating, the presence of a geoportal (access to a map with geographical information) and a separate section with information on investment objects proposed by city authorities regardless of the form of ownership.

No city reached the maximum score of 20 points. Ivano-Frankivsk, the leader of the ranking, has only 15.

No city reached the maximum score of 20 points. Ivano-Frankivsk, the leader of the ranking, has only 15. 

With regard to that, program manager of Transparent Cities Kateryna Tsybenko says that most cities have a lot of work to do before they can achieve transparency in the investment sector.

“The top 10 includes cities which make the most effort to inform potential investors on the benefits of investment in their cities, create more transparent conditions for businesses and work on engagement of entrepreneurs in decision-making on policies that directly impact it. The top 10 includes 4 cities which are not oblast centers, and it is very important that they understand the necessity for this activity,” says Tsybenko

What Is Special about the Leaders?

The analysts took into account investment portals, information on investment objects and utility networks connected to them, connection to the platform helping entrepreneurs to start a business, electronic auctions for small businesses, a program for development of entrepreneurship, timely publication of draft regulatory acts and public discussions around them.

Ivano-Frankivsk has an investment portal containing all the necessary information for investors apart from a platform for starting a business and a list of current regulatory acts.

A list of startups and a map of investment objects can be found on the website.

Transparency identified that Kyiv has the best geoportal.

The top 10 includes cities which make the most effort to inform potential investors on the benefits of investment in their cities, create more transparent conditions for businesses and work on engagement of entrepreneurs in decision-making on policies that directly impact it. The top 10 includes 4 cities which are not oblast centers, and it is very important that they understand the necessity for this activity.

Kateryna Tsybenko, program manager of Transparent Cities

The post Ivano-Frankivsk Is the Most Transparent City for Business in Ukraine first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.

We cordially invite you to participate in investment sector transparency research results of 100 biggest Ukrainian cities which will take place on 23 October 2018 at 3:30 p.m. in Zhytomyr at 5/8 Zamkovyi Maidan.

At the event, detailed analysis of a situation with transparency of the investment sector in Zhytomyr will be made and the analytical report on its results will be presented as well. In addition, you will learn which city took the first place in the transparency ranking of the investment sector in 100 biggest Ukrainian cities as well as which cities are the outsiders. You will see what opportunities are open for cities in the upper part of the ranking and why increasing transparency in the investment area can help not only to attract business to Ukrainian cities but also to fight corruption.

Speakers of the event:

1. Kateryna Tsybenko, manager of the Transparent cities program implemented by Transparency International Ukraine
2. Anatolii Kotov, project coordinator for “From transparency of the investment sector to overcoming corruption risks”

Representatives of Zhytomyr city council and business associations will participate in the event as well.

Please register via: https://goo.gl/forms/3j3RoYcXsijzsRyn2

Contacts:

Anatolii Kotov, Project Coordinator, email: kotov@ti-ukraine.org, phone: 097 3984638

We sincerely hope to see you among the guests at our event!

The post Presentation of Investment Sector Transparency Ranking | Zhytomyr first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.

This is Kyiv’s score for transparency of the investment sector, according to the results of investment sector transparency research carried out with the help of methodology developed by the Ukrainian chapter of the global anti-corruption network Transparency International.

On 10 October the presentation of Investment Sector Transparency Ranking of 100 Ukrainian Cities was held in Kyiv for representatives of the city council, journalists and activists. Kyiv is the runner-up of the ranking.

Characterizing the situation with investment sector transparency in Kyiv, Transparent Cities program coordinator Kateryna Tsybenko of Transparency International pointed out, “Even though Kyiv ranked second in the Investment Sector Transparency Ranking, it received only 12.7 points out of 20. Among positive examples, we can name the existence of a geoportal, an approved funding program for small businesses. The decision to introduce digital auctions for sale of seasonal trade rights that was adopted by Kyiv City Council helps to create equal conditions for entrepreneurs, which in its turn allows them to create new jobs and increase the GDP. There is an investment portal, however without an investment passport in Ukrainian. Furthermore, there is not enough information about utility networks connected to objects for investment.”

Anatolii Kotov, project coordinator of “From Transparency in the Investment Sector to Overcoming Corruption Risks,” characterized the importance of the project as follows: “The project aims at increasing the investment sector transparency on the municipal level. We have analyzed websites of city councils based on 17 indicators which reflect the investment sector (presence of a geoportal, investment passport etc.). The project is supposed to result in improvement of the score in the investment sector transparency ranking of 100 biggest Ukrainian cities in at least 10 of those cities.”

TI Ukraine continues to work on transparency in the regions of Ukraine and to motivate representatives of the local self-government to strive for greater transparency. After all, openness and transparency are the principal prerequisites to reduce the level of corruption.

The post Presentation of Investment Sector Transparency Ranking Held in Kyiv first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.

What other criteria do investors use before investing in a city? There is the regional Doing Business, implemented by BRDO, and the Community of Ukrainian Enterprises (CUE). They assess five areas of interaction between entrepreneurs and local authorities in terms of time and money. These areas include payment of taxes, starting an enterprise, receipt of permits for construction, documentary work associated with land plots under real estate, connection to utilities.

It is a highly important and informative ranking, since it takes into account absolutely measurable points – the number of hours required to register a business and the amount of money spent on it.

But is this information enough for an investor to make the choice? Transparency International Ukraine believes that it is not, which is why the experts of our organization, together with BRDO, EBA, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with advice from the World Bank and EBRD, have developed the methodology to measure investment sector transparency. It is a continuation of our city transparency ranking. Investment sector transparency shows how well the city informs potential investors about its investment potential, how open the rules of the game are for investors and entrepreneurs, how convenient it is to start a business.

Is the city connected to the official platform helping people to start their own business? Is there a special website with information for investors, are investment objects and their utility networks published there? Has the local council passed a program of support and development of entrepreneurship and does it finance it? Has the local council made the decision to implement electronic auctions for seasonal trade placement rights?

Among other things, answers to these questions influence whether the investor will want to invest in the city and whether a citizen will want to start a business.

For instance, let us consider electronic auctions for sales of rights for placement of seasonal trade. They are useful primarily for small business. Small business is a sector highly sensitive to corruption. When it does not have equal access from the start (which is precisely what is provided by electronic auctions), they do not contribute to the budget and do not create jobs. Every seasonal trade object means income; the local budget also benefits from the money received for sales of the placement rights.

According to our research, only 4 cities out of 100 have implemented such electronic auctions, as of July-August 2018 – Kyiv, Drohobych, Lviv and Khmelnytskyi.

The Effective Regulation Platform contains the section #StartBusiness Challenge, which helps citizens to start their own business. It includes business cases – step by step guidelines which explain what permits can be required to start this or that kind of business. The research shows that only 2 cities have uploaded 1 to 5 business cases in the system – Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr.

There are also more optimistic research results: 69 cities publish information on objects and projects available for investors on their websites. Admittedly, some cities confuse investments with charity and include kindergartens or parks to be reconstructed in this section.

Cities also have quite good results with regulatory policies, even though there are not many cities where regulatory acts are actively discussed and where protocols of such discussions are published.

The ranking leaders are Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Lviv and Bila Tserkva. However, I would like to highlight once again: it is not about investment attractiveness. It is about investment sector transparency. It means that these cities provide the most opportunities to start a business and information how to do it, as well as possibilities to influence it.

It is also noteworthy that transparency of the investment sector does not necessarily mean that a lot of investors will immediately want to work with the city. It is, however, the first step towards it. It should be followed by real work to provide auspicious environment for businesses.

The post How Can You Attract Investors to Your City? first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.

We invite you to take part in the presentation of the results of transparency measurement of the investment sector in 100 biggest Ukrainian cities. It will take place on 10 October 2018, at 2 p.m. in Kyiv, 10 Khreshchatyk Str., (iHub space).

At the event, detailed analysis of a situation with transparency of the investment sector in Kyiv will be made and the analytical report on its results will be presented as well.

In addition, you will learn which city took the first place in the transparency ranking of the investment sector in 100 biggest Ukrainian cities as well as which cities are the outsiders. You will see what opportunities are open for cities in the upper part of the ranking and why increasing transparency in the investment area can help not only to attract business to Ukrainian cities but also to fight corruption.

Speakers of the event:

1. Kateryna Tsybenko, manager of the Transparent cities program implemented by Transparency International Ukraine
2. Anatolii Kotov, project coordinator for “From transparency of the investment sector to overcoming corruption risks”

Representatives of Kyiv city council and delegates of business associations will, too, participate in the event.

Registration is obligatory via https://goo.gl/forms/le26tsNpX8ZlOHe92

Contacts:

Anatolii Kotov, Project Coordinator, email: kotov@ti-ukraine.org, phone: 097 3984638

We sincerely hope to see you among the guests at our event!

The post Presentation of Investment Sector Transparency Ranking in Kyiv first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.

This is Vinnytsia’s score for transparency of the investment sector, according to the results of investment sector transparency research carried out with the help of methodology developed by the Ukrainian chapter of the global anti-corruption network Transparency International.

On 27 September the presentation of Investment Sector Transparency Ranking of 100 Ukrainian Cities was held in Vinnytsia.  The results of the research of 100 biggest cities of Ukraine, presented at the event, show Vinnytsia on the 3rd place.

Characterizing the situation with investment sector transparency in Vinnytsia, Taras Sluchyk, project analyst, said, “In the investment sector transparency ranking of 100 biggest Ukrainian cities, Vinnytsia got 12 points out of 20. Its fortes include the geoportal, a section for work with investors and the investment passport in English and Ukrainian; the city’s credit rating; a program of support and development of entrepreneurship etc. However, the city still needs to publish information on utility networks connected to the objects/projects put up for investment by the authorities regardless of their form of ownership, make the decision to implement electronic auctions for sales of seasonal trade placement rights, regulate the conflict of interest of executive committee members in a statutory instrument.”

Andrii Botsiun, head of investment directorate under the finance and investment department of Vinnytsia city council, said, “Vinnytsia city council constantly works on development of new tools to ensure openness, transparency, free access of the citizens to information and increase in the level of anti-corruption practice both in the activity of structural units of the city council and subordinate municipal enterprises and on the level of the investment sector. Vinnytsia city council departments have already started analyzing the report results and implementing recommendations to increase the city’s score.”

Anatolii Kotov, project coordinator of “From Transparency in the Investment Sector to Overcoming Corruption Risks,” characterized the importance of the project as follows: “The project aims at increasing the investment sector transparency on the municipal level. We have analyzed websites of city councils based on 17 indicators which reflect the investment sector (presence of a geoportal, investment passport etc.). The project is supposed to result in improvement of the score in the investment sector transparency ranking of 100 biggest Ukrainian cities in at least 10 of those cities.”

TI Ukraine continues to work on transparency in the regions of Ukraine and to motivate representatives of the local self-government to strive for greater transparency. After all, openness and transparency are the principal prerequisites to reduce the level of corruption.

The post Presentation of Investment Sector Transparency Ranking Held in Vinnytsia first appeared on Transparency International Ukraine.