Practices for increasing the level of publicity and transparency of Ukrainian local budgets

Abstract. Publicity and transparency of local budgets promotes dialogue between local governments and citizens, which, in turn, increases citizens' trust in government. By ensuring these two principles of the budget system, it is possible to improve the quality of public services and increase the efficiency of budget process management. Ukraine is currently undergoing a number of reforms (including in the public finance system), which are demonstrating some positive results. Changes may be noted in increasing the level of publicity and transparency of local budgets in Ukraine. The purpose of the article is to review key practices that contribute to the publicity and transparency of local budgets, as well as provide recommendations for their further application and improvement. This goal led to the implementation of the following research objectives: (1) to find out the place of publicity and transparency in the system of public finances of Ukraine; (2) to review the leading practices used in Ukraine today; (3) to suggest new practices based on foreign experience in order to increase the level of publicity and transparency of local budgets. The methods used include analysis of secondary data resources, mainly academic literature and analytical reports. The obtained results lead the authors to demonstrate that Ukraine is currently undergoing processes that have a positive impact on increasing the degree of publicity and transparency of local budgets and the public finance system in general. An overview of some of the main practices already used in Ukraine allowed authors to draw conclusions about the sufficient level of publicity and transparency of local budgets. The use of participatory and gender-oriented budgeting, as well as the possibility of further implementation in the future of participatory audit and online tools to consult the public on budget issues, will help increase the level of publicity and transparency of local budgets in Ukraine. A promising direction for further research may be the study of foreign practices along with the assessment of the potential for their implementation in Ukraine. The paper may be useful for practitioners working within the public sector and dealing with budgeting as well as researchers who focus on local budgets and their transparency. Key words: publicity, openness, local budgets, participatory budgeting, gender oriented budgeting, transparency, participatory audit, Ukraine.