On December 9, 2025, Nataliia Alieksieieva, Head of the Agglomeration and Community Development Office of the Lviv City Council, participated in the key panel discussion “Agglomerations: Interaction for Shared Development” as part of the XIX Ukrainian Municipal Forum.
The discussion gathered leading experts and leaders of the country’s metropolitan centers to discuss ways of ensuring community resilience and development.
Nataliia Alieksieieva presented the model of inter-municipal cooperation in the Lviv region: “To date, 13 communities have already become official members of the ‘Lviv Agglomeration’ Association of Local Self-Governments. Priority issues being addressed jointly include the organization of transport infrastructure and waste management. Future areas of work include joint spatial planning and environmental initiatives.”
Beyond the legislative formalization of the status of agglomerations, the issue of financial resources remains acute. Nataliia Alieksieieva emphasized that for the development of agglomeration communities, it is necessary to resolve the issue of funding sources—for example, through reverse subsidy funds.
Participants from Kyiv and Ivano-Frankivsk confirmed that the issue of agglomerations is urgent:
- The Kyiv Agglomeration (represented by Maryna Honda and Oksana Bondarets) unites 18 communities. They emphasize that future legislation must formalize the status, competencies, implementation tools, and financial capacity of agglomerations.
- Ivano-Frankivsk has de facto become a center uniting 14 communities. Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv shared that the development of strategic documents and sector-specific legislation is a pressing issue.
Vira Kozina, an expert from the Council of Europe, underscored that the right to form agglomerations is part of the functional autonomy of local self-government (Article 10 of the European Charter). She also noted a fundamental shift in the culture of inter-community interaction in Ukraine over the last two years.
To ensure resilience and effective development in the post-war period, a law on agglomerations and the guaranteeing of their financial base are critically important for the entire country!
