Serhiy Goncharov: Reforms should be predictable, expected and understandable for society

20.02.2020 13:08

This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs today, February 20, during public consultations on the draft concepts of state policy of the Program of Activities of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, for the achievements of which the Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible.

Sergey Goncharov noted that the current Government intends to be as transparent and understandable to the public as possible. Therefore, in contrast to the declaratory documents, which no one has read or executed, the Government Action Program was approved, divided into clear sections with defined areas of activity.

“A change in the course of interaction between the state and citizens is planned. The activities of the Government and, accordingly, of all ministries are based on a people-centric approach. Therefore, we will work closely with the public to decide together how to most effectively implement the measures prescribed in the Program of Activities of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine,” said the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for achieving the five objectives of the Government Activity Programme. Public consultations on the draft concepts of their achievement began in early February with the involvement of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

“We discussed draft concepts with members of the Gromrad Council, as well as with civil society institutions in almost all areas. We will transfer the generalized proposals to the developers,” said Volodymyr Martynenko, chairman of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The next stage of the public consultation was today's roundtable meeting, organized with the active assistance of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the basis of the National Academy of Internal Affairs. To express their suggestions and comments, specialists of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Police, the State Border Guard Service, the State Emergency Service, the State Migration Service and the National Guard, scientists, experts, representatives of advisory and advisory bodies of state bodies, institutions of citizens joined the consultations of the society.

Draft Public Policy Concept for Achieving Objective 13.1. “Every Ukrainian feels protected from physical threats” was presented by Vladislav Dubyna, Deputy Head of the Main Department for Coordination of Work and Ensuring the Formation of State Policy Controlled by the Minister of Authorities of the Directorate of Strategic Planning and European Integration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He emphasized that the imperfection of the mechanisms of disclosure and pre-trial investigation of criminal offenses, the lack of technological and analytical support of the units of the National Police and the low level of torture of citizens to fight crime are the reasons for the lack of a sense of security in humans. The developers of the concept propose to solve this problem through a number of measures, among which, in particular, the reform of the criminal police and pre-trial investigation bodies, the introduction of a system of protection and security of witnesses, the principle of police activity guided by analytics, proper technical equipment of police officers, involve citizens in the fight against crime on the basis of principles confidentiality, cooperation and partnership.

The main directions and priorities of the draft Concept of State Policy for the achievement of the goal 13.2 “A person who is in trouble (an emergency or other life situation that threatens his life or health) will receive assistance even in the most remote corners of the country” outlined Vadim Nekipiliy, Head of the Department Implementation of reforms of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The measures prescribed in this concept are aimed at establishing high-quality emergency communication of the population with the state regarding the threat or occurrence of an emergency or other dangerous event, as well as to maximize the coverage areas of emergency and police services.

Presenting the draft Concept of State Policy on Achieving Goal 13.3 “Ukrainians and their property are protected from fires and accidents” and the draft implementation plan, Vasyl Skakun, Head of the Department of Interaction with the State Emergency Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, noted that the concept is intended to minimize risks for humans on the territory of Ukraine as a result of fires and other emergencies. It is planned to achieve this through amendments to the legislation on the introduction of a risk-oriented approach, in particular by involving insurance companies in the implementation of this approach. In parallel, measures are planned to establish a network of emergency management centers and the introduction of an institute of private fire protection.

The main tasks defined by the draft Concept of State Policy to achieve the goal 13.4 “Ukrainians are protected from organized crime and mass riots” were outlined by Oleksandr Naumenko, Head of the Main Department of Policy Formation, Planning and Forecasting of the Directorate of Public Security, Crime Prevention and Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is about improving special police operations and the model of ensuring public order during peaceful gatherings. In addition, the goal is to increase the effectiveness of the fight against organized crime, especially with its most dangerous manifestations.

Oleksandr Naumenko also mentioned the main measures prescribed in the plan of implementation of the draft Concept of State Policy to achieve the goal 13.5 “Ukrainians are protected by a reliable border and are satisfied with the service when crossing it”. They are aimed at maximizing citizens' needs for effective services when crossing the border and issuing migration documents, as well as optimizing procedures for crossing the state border and proper development of checkpoints at the state border.

It should be noted that participants in the public consultations expressed both technical comments and strong suggestions for improving the concepts. All of them will be considered in the process of project finalization.

According to Sergey Goncharov, the goals for which the Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible for achieving are ambitious and require coordinated interaction with the legislative and executive authorities, with the public both at the stage of development and during implementation, because this is, in particular, about the laborious work to improve the current legislation.

“We are always open and welcome suggestions. Because thanks to constructive remarks, we can shorten the time from initiation to adoption, and thus increase the pace of implementation of changes,” the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is convinced.

As Volodymyr Martynenko, Chairman of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, noted at the end of the public consultations, the interaction between government officials, legislators, scientists, practitioners and the public gives an obvious result.

“Discussing five concepts, we touched on a number of issues, projects and current regulations that require our joint work. Therefore, the sixth concept, which we have casually formulated today, is the establishment of sustainable communication between the developers of npa and those who will implement them, with the maximum involvement of the public in the process of forming state policy,” Volodymyr Martynenko noted.