Ukraine, as a country that has undergone a difficult path of reforms and political transformation while already entering its tenth year of war with Russia, faces major challenges and responsibilities related to rebuilding and modernizing its economy and state institutions. One of the key areas requiring particular attention is the effective management of public finances, including funds allocated for recovery.
According to the updated assessment by the World Bank, the European Commission, and the United Nations, the cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine amounts to $411 billion, or approximately five annual Ukrainian state budgets. It is clear that recovery will be financed through reparations from Russia, support from international partners, the Ukrainian budget, and private business. For this reason, Ukraine must become a reliable partner in the reconstruction process, and openness in public finance management — together with the effective use of resources — will be a cornerstone of success.
First and foremost, it is important to understand that openness in the budget process is the foundation of democratic governance and a guarantee of transparency and accountability of the state to its citizens. Ukraine has a unique experience in implementing open budget tools through the initiative and active support of civil society.
Ten years ago, in May 2013, Parliament registered the draft law “On the Openness of Public Funds Usage,” which required the publication of all payment orders and separate reports of state authorities, local governments, and other institutions processed by the Treasury on a specially created website. Two years later, the Unified Web Portal for the Use of Public Funds (www.edata.gov.ua) was publicly launched with the participation of the Speaker of Parliament, the Minister of Finance, and civil society activists.
This became possible solely because of successful cooperation between government representatives and the expert community. The initiative to create the web portal came from civil society. They drafted the law and formed a nationwide coalition of civic organizations to advocate for its adoption. After the Revolution of Dignity and the formation of the broad civil society coalition known as the Reanimation Package of Reforms, its adoption became part of the legislative agenda in cooperation with Parliament.
Following the adoption of the law, the expert community continued to support government institutions by helping shape the vision of the new system, prepare the necessary regulations, train users, and improve the web portal after its launch.
Today, the portal contains information on:
240 million payment transactions processed by the Treasury
82 million contracts, supplementary agreements, completion certificates, invoices, and expenditure reports
55,000 individual accounts of organizations that, in accordance with the Law, submit information to the portal
2 million users worldwide access the portal each year
The openness of budget expenditure data allows citizens, experts, and civil society organizations to become active participants in budget oversight, increases public trust and the confidence of international partners in government institutions, and contributes to the efficient use of public resources.
The Ministry of Finance has also introduced additional open data tools on this platform:
Budget for Citizens (https://openbudget.gov.ua/) — information on budget planning and execution at both the national and local levels.
BOOST Analysis — a tool that enables analysis of budgets at all levels, from municipalities to the state budget, across revenues, expenditures, lending, and financing. It was developed using the World Bank methodology and is part of the Budget for Citizens platform.
Spending (www.spending.gov.ua) — information on the use of public funds by spending units of the state and local budgets.
Proifi (https://proifi.gov.ua/) — a registry of projects implemented with financing from international financial institutions.
Various dashboards, including information on funds provided by international partners to partially cover expenditures of the state budget of Ukraine.
Together with a number of reforms implemented in Ukraine, these tools contributed to the country becoming a European leader in the T-index (Transparency Index) and ranking first in the category of open data development, despite the ongoing war.
Government institutions actively use information from the portal in their work, including for assessing the efficiency of budget spending. These tools became especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the Accounting Chamber used portal data to create a series of dashboards that tracked the use of funds allocated to combat the pandemic, enabling more effective evidence-based decision-making in the field of public health.
A significant opportunity for improving public finance management in Ukraine lies in the use of digital solutions and big data. Modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics can greatly support the management and analysis of public finances. They provide fast and accurate access to information, help forecast trends, detect risks, and enable more informed decisions while optimizing the use of public resources.
Civil society institutions can play a key role in ensuring the effectiveness of decisions adopted by the state.
By using available Treasury data together with modern big data technologies, civil society organizations are well positioned to contribute to transparency and efficiency in decisions made by both the government and international partners. Their potential functions include:
monitoring the quality of planning and the use of recovery funds financed through state and local budgets;
monitoring the effectiveness of individual projects and programs;
developing financial risk management systems;
preparing recommendations to optimize expenditures and improve the efficiency of recovery spending;
monitoring implementation and providing recommendations for improving Ukraine’s recovery plan.
With many years of cooperation between government institutions and civil society in the field of public finance management, Ukraine has the capacity to ensure transparency, efficiency, and accountability in the use of public funds for reconstruction. An open budget system and practical experience with modern data analytics tools are already an essential foundation for achieving this goal.