Kharkiv joins the Alliance of Local Government Integrity

16:18 28.10.2024

City

Kharkiv joins the Alliance of Local Government Integrity

The Local Government Integrity Alliance was launched today, 28 October, in Kyiv.

During the event, 22 city communities were represented, which were the first to join the Alliance. Kharkiv was among them. Together with other participants, it will serve as an example for other communities, demonstrating effective practices of transparency, accountability and corruption prevention in the areas of public procurement, municipal real estate management, urban planning, architecture, etc.

The event also featured discussions with international partners, financial institutions, business associations, government and local government representatives focused on the challenges and opportunities of regional development, as well as the conditions for attracting investment. Mayor Igor Terekhov joined the event online.

The mayor spoke about Kharkiv's anti-corruption efforts, including the signing of the Declaration on Building Integrity with the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and the work of the Transparent Kharkiv chatbot.

Igor Terekhov also shared the experience of cooperation between the city authorities and international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the European Investment Bank. The mayor said that Kharkiv's loan portfolio currently stands at around USD 600 million. According to him, the fact that the city manages to attract loans and grants during a full-scale war demonstrates the high level of trust of international partners.

‘I would like to remind you once again that if we do not remove corruption risks, we will not have investments. No one will come to us - neither foreign business nor international financial institutions. The competition for investors among Ukrainian cities will be fierce, and the winner will be the one that offers the most favourable conditions to business and removes all corruption components. I am very grateful for our cooperation and believe that it will be extremely useful for our communities,’ said Igor Terekhov.

The Alliance of Local Government Integrity was initiated by the Promoting Integrity in the Public Sector (Pro-Integrity) project with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), and UK International Development.