Ukrainian local authorities fail to set up transparent humanitarian aid and withhold housing damage costs, TI Ukraine watchdog says

Local governments have yet to establish clear procedures for distributing humanitarian aid or publicly account for spending on damaged housing, despite four years of russia’s full-scale invasion, Transparency International Ukraine warned.

The findings were presented by Olesia Koval, who leads the organization’s Transparent Cities program, during a briefing at Media Center Ukraine. According to Koval, none of the examined cities has established an open and functional framework for handling humanitarian assistance.

“No city has been able to ensure transparency in humanitarian matters. Residents have little idea of the support recipient list, what the reports contain, or how distribution decisions are made,” she said. “We are in the fourth year of the full-scale war, and city councils still turn a blind eye to the importance of this area, even though previous reports also flagged these violations. Out of 11 cities, only one even has an office designated as a ‘humanitarian aid’ department. The rest have provided no entry point for citizens.”

Koval added that municipalities also lack complete data on destruction and compensation, with many failing to publish decisions detailing who received financial assistance and in what amounts.

“These are major budget allocations,” she said. “Communities have a right to know who received support and how much. And there are many questions surrounding this.”

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news