Kakhovka rayon hromadas demonstrate formal budget transparency

The Center for Public Investigations is checking how 15 communities of Kakhovka district in Kherson region comply with the law on publication of budget documents.

This was reported by analysts of the Center for Public Investigations.

Searching for budget documents in the communities of Kakhovka district mostly resembles navigating through confusing menus, where each transition can be wrong, but the end result is usually the same - a single PDF or even JPEG instead of structured data. For example, on the websites of Askania-Nova and Prysyvaska village military administrations, the required order had to be searched in complex sections, and the documents found were in JPEG format, which does not meet the requirements for open data. І

Other communities, such as Krestivska, Kostiantynivska, Lyubymivska, Novokakhovska, Velykolepetska, Kakhovska and Rubanivska, have similar problems: documents and annexes were found, but they were combined into one PDF file, a format that makes it impossible to read them by machine or to process the tables further. Only Hornostaiivka village council showed partial compliance by publishing the text and annexes in the required formats, albeit through an unobvious menu path.

SCREEN SHOT: CPR

In some communities, budget documents are formally available, but have significant limitations. On the Chaplynska community's website, we managed to find only the text part of the resolution in PDF, but without the most important financial details - there are no annexes to it on the website. A similar "partial accessibility" is observed on the website of the Tavria City Council: the annexes open without any obstacles, but the text of the budget resolution itself cannot be viewed - the system offers to send a request for access, which creates a paradoxical situation.

There are communities where the budget resolution is not published at all or contains only outdated information. For example, in the Zelenopodska, Tavrychanska, and Verkhnorohachytska communities, there are no current sections with orders from military administrations, and all materials are dated before the full-scale invasion (until 2022). This indicates a complete lack of disclosure of the necessary financial documents on the 2025 budget.

Monitoring of the openness of budget documents in the communities of Kakhovka district showed that 10 communities are formally open, but use the wrong formats; 2 communities are partially open (no annexes or closed access to the text); and 3 communities are completely closed (no documents are available). At the same time, not a single community in the district has published the 2025 budget in full compliance with the requirements of the law.

Катерина Глушко