Assessment, development, and implementation of public policy — the EU-LEAP analytical center brought together like-minded people for a presentation dedicated to the organization's activities

Pravo.ua

Corporatization, corporate governance, management of state and municipal assets, elimination of land schemes, property assessment — on December 15, the EU-LEAP think tank presented its portfolio of projects to stakeholders and introduced them to its mission and goals.

Valeriia Hrytsenko, Executive Director of EU-LEAP, opened the event and introduced the think tank's team, as well as presenting some of the projects the organization is working on. Valeriia spoke about the methods the center uses in its work: "We pay a lot of attention to advocacy. Our center is based on evidence-based advocacy, which is key to promoting reforms. Centers like ours help government agencies, local authorities, civil society organizations, and businesses to promote change in the country. We place a special focus on the management of public assets, as this is an area where high-quality management decisions are directly transformed into measurable budgetary results. Therefore, think tanks play a leading role in promoting high-quality and independent change. They build this bridge of interaction between the state, the community, and society. We hope that all the reforms we are pursuing in this project will be implemented and will have a successful outcome."

Oleksii Movchan, Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development, addressed the guests with a welcoming speech: "Think tanks in Ukraine today are a key tool for policy formation and implementation, because they are centers of expertise where reforms can be tested and developed on an ongoing basis. In other words, these are not ad hoc reforms, where reforms are demanded by Ukraine's partners and something needs to be changed quickly. Rather, they are systemic changes, with in-depth research, strategic vision, and architecture development — all of which can be done in think tanks. They are the foundation for such qualitative strategic changes in Ukraine."

EU-LEAP Strategic Advisor Ilya Mikhailov spoke about the mission, goals, and activities of the organization. In his opinion, think tanks are guides that help young Ukrainian democracy, which is undergoing extraordinary trials due to the war, to build trust in the “golden triangle” of business, government, and society. After all, trust makes it possible to implement positive changes and move the country forward. Think tanks should play a role in creating positive synergy, which allows for strengthening the foundation and building trust for high-quality policies that meet the needs of the state, citizens, and business.

EU-LEAP legal advisor Oksana Rak told the guests about some of the think tank's projects that are designed to promote reforms in public administration, strengthen state and community institutions in Ukraine, de-shadow the economy, and increase budget revenues.

The EU-LEAP project portfolio includes reforms in the areas of corporate governance and corporatization of state and municipal enterprises, public asset management, protection of creditors' rights and updating of bankruptcy procedures, development of investment and municipal financial instruments, as well as elimination of legislative abuses.

During the panel discussion “Corporatization and corporate governance in state and municipal enterprises: current challenges,” the speakers were Oleksiy Movchan, Member of Parliament of Ukraine; Anna Artemenko, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine; Oleksandr Slobozhan, Executive Director of the Association of Ukrainian Cities; Taras Sluzyk, Acting Head of EU4Reconstruction, Stream 2; Clément Lapointe, Project Manager, Expertise France-FDMU. Participants had the opportunity to discuss in more detail the problems, risks, and barriers related to the cases the organization is working on and to share their own expectations for the reforms.

The presentation served as a starting point for further work with partners and stakeholders on projects that EU-LEAP supports in the field of public policy.

We would like to thank all participants for their meaningful discussion and willingness to join in the next stages of the work.