President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a new improved draft law on amendments to the country's Constitution regarding decentralization of power, the member of the presidential legal reform commission and Zelensky's representative in the Constitutional Court, Ukrainian MP Fedir Venislavsky has told Interfax-Ukraine.

"Decentralization is a strategically important area of Ukraine's development. The reform that local governance authorities have been waiting for years. For several weeks there have been substantial discussions on the draft law on constitutional amendments, which makes decentralization real. First of all, it was important to hear the position of local communities, for the sake of ability and future development of which, in fact, the reform is undergoing. As a result, the president submitted to the parliament a new improved draft law taking into account the most important proposals from the local self-governance authorities and the public. Decentralization is inevitable, we will make the reform real, territorial communities capable, democracy effective," he said.

As reported, on December 13, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky registered in parliament bill No. 2598 on amending the Constitution of Ukraine on decentralization of power.

The bill proposes introducing a new list of administrative and territorial units: a community, a district, a region, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Moreover, the community is defined as the primary subject of local self-governance and a legal entity.

At the constitutional level, the community's right to the direct execution of local self-governance is secured through elections, local referenda, local initiatives and other forms determined by law. The creation of representative and executive bodies of local self-governance is envisaged: district and regional councils, their executive committees. It is stipulated that the change of their borders, the name and renaming is carried out taking into account the opinions of local residents.