Under martial law, it is important to form a backbone of business in each community that will provide revenues to the budgets of all levels. But everything rests on the shortage of labor. Addressing this issue is one of the key tasks for local authorities. This opinion was voiced by economic expert Oleg Pendzin in a commentary to UNN.
According to him, to this end, community authorities should more actively raise the issue of economic reservation for certain businesses located on their territories.
"Today, Ukraine has an extremely big problem, especially in the regions, especially in small towns, and that is the labor force. You need to understand that the work of any business rests on the lack of personnel. We are not even talking about qualified personnel, we are talking about any personnel. In my opinion, in this situation, the first and most important issue that local authorities can solve today is to raise the issue of economic booking and create conditions for each region to have some kind of business backbone that will provide at least local taxes. Because if nothing works, where can you accumulate funds to support business, to ensure the operation of public utilities, to make payments to state employees, which, among other things, fall on local budgets: doctors, teachers," said Oleg Pendzin.
The expert is convinced that it is the presence of a group of operating enterprises in the community that creates the preconditions for local authorities to implement various programs to support and develop entrepreneurial activity.
"Every regional budget and local community budget has funds allocated for entrepreneurship development. But the issue is not in the allocation of funds, the issue is in the filling of budgets. As a rule, all programs are related to business assistance - they are still unprotected items. That is, if there are budget funds available, they can be financed if the local council votes for them. If there is no money, you can vote as much as you want. And money is made from taxes, and taxes are generated by business, and business works only when there are workers. So everything is connected," the economist added.
Optional
Almost 600 new jobs were created in the Brovary community as part of investment projects during martial law.
"In 2022-2024, business entities implemented 76 investment projects in the hromada. Most of them are in the field of trade - 42. Another 10 projects have been completed in the field of industry, 14 in the field of transport and logistics, 7 in the social sphere and medicine, and 3 in the field of infrastructure development, energy and housing construction. These projects have attracted over UAH 446 million in investments. And just as importantly, almost 600 new jobs have been created in the current environment," Brovary Mayor Ihor Sapozhko told UNN in a commentary.
He added that the number of registered unemployed in the Brovary community in 2024 decreased from 596 to 209 people compared to 2021.