Reform Index. Release 13

Reform Index aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of reform efforts by Ukraine’s authorities. The Index is based on expert assessments of changes in the regulatory environment in five areas.

Reform Index value for the 13^th monitoring period (June 22^nd – July 5^th, 2015) decreased to +0.4 points out of a possible range from -5.0 to +5.0 points. This is one of the lowest index values since the start of monitoring.

There were only few events in this monitoring period. The highest grade was assigned to the law 490-VIII allowing co-financing of reconditioning and reconstruction of principal roads from local budgets (+2.0 points). According to expert Taras Kachka from Ukraine Reforms Communication Taskforce

There is an active optimization of financial relations between center and local authorities. Apparently this is an ad hoc decision for the decentralization period. The solution is appropriate in these conditions.

Transfer of management of two higher education institutions (the University of Banking and the Ukrainian Academy of Banking) from the National Bank of Ukraine to the Ministry of Education scored +1.0 point (CMU decree # 666-р). Experts positively assessed the fact that the NBU terminated non-core activities. As a result, Governance and Anti-corruption sector as a whole received +1.0 points.

The same grade (+1.0) was assigned to Industrial Organization and Trade Policy sector. Experts gave +1.0 points to the Cabinet of Ministers decision (#449) to abandon reference pricing for wholesale price declaration of medicines and medical products. Reference pricing system is designed to control the amount of public spending on medicines as the reference price is the upper limit of spending. Since rapid UAH depreciation exceeded declared wholesale prices increase allowed by the legislation, provision of subsidized medicines to socially disadvantaged groups has been hampered. Experts positively assessed the development since reference pricing in this form was inefficient.

At the same time, three other sub-indices, Public Finance. Monetary Policy and Financial Markets and Energy Independence, scored 0.0 points as there were no significant events.

Reform Index aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of reform efforts by Ukraine’s authorities. The Index is based on expert assessments of changes in the regulatory environment in five areas:

1. Governance and Anti-Corruption
2. Public Finance and Labor Market
3. Monetary Policy and Financial Markets
4. Industrial Organization and Foreign Trade 
5. Energy Independence

For details please visit reforms.voxukraine.org