Efficiency of Executive Authorities Activity in the Sphere of Cross-Border Cooperation: Current State and the Ways of Improvement (at the Example of Ukraine)
Efficiency of Executive Authorities Activity in the Sphere of Cross-Border Cooperation: Current State and the Ways of Improvement (at the Example of Ukraine)

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the existing experience of cooperation of regionalmanagement entities, in particular the executive authorities, in the sphere of cross-bordercooperation along the Western border of Ukraine. In order to achieve the goals set up for theauthors, the sociological research method of questionnaire survey was implemented. Theregional management entities are the object of the research. They are the representatives ofexecutive authorities of oblast (administrative unit in Ukraine) and regional level of Lvivska,Zakarpatska and Ivano-Frankivska oblasts (employees of regional and oblast stateadministrations of the following departments or divisions: education, culture and tourism,economy, international cooperation, civil defense, health care, infrastructure, etc) and of publicorganizations engaged in the sphere of cross-border cooperation and scientists examiningtheoretical and practical aspects of cross-border cooperation problems. The sample ofexecutive authorities’ representatives of oblast and regional level of the above mentionedoblasts were formed through probability zoned sampling. The sample of public organizations’representatives was formed through snowball sampling. The conducted research has detectedbasic obstacles to efficient cross-border cooperation development, in particular: poor level ofexecutive authorities’ employees qualification in the sphere of cross-border cooperation, lackof financial maintenance, absence of informational and statistical maintenance, overcentralizationof authorities, wrong division of responsibilities between the regionalmanagement structures in the region, inadequate legal maintenance on cross-bordercooperation development, instability of managing apparatus activity (frequent elections,authorities’ responsibilities alteration, etc.), misbalance of existing legislature of partneringstates, etc. The authors have developed proposals over the improvement of the mechanisms ofinformational-statistical, organizational and institutional maintenance in the sphere of crossbordercooperation. In particular, proposals concern the initiatives over qualification levelincrease of the executive authorities’ representatives and creation of coordinating or consultingcenter in order to form the data bases and monitor, support and implement cross-borderprograms and projects within the cross-border region, etc.

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