Official: Ukraine's civil service suffering 'catastrophic' shortage of people

Ukraine's civil service is suffering from a "catastrophic shortage" of people at both the state and local level, the head of the National Agency for Civil Service, Nataliia Aliushyna, said on May 15.

According to Aliushyna, the payment system for civil servants will be reformed in order to attract and retain qualified personnel.

Last year, the Ukrainian government passed a law limiting bonuses for those working in the civil service.

"We have a catastrophic lack of specialists... Our goal is to attract qualified personnel and be able to retain them through competitive wages," Aliushyna said at an online conference called "Two Years of War: Consequences and Prospects."

In March, it was announced Ukraine was working to reduce the number of ministries by one-third as part of the civil service reform.

According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, 20,000 government vacancies have already been cut in 2024.

If the number of ministries is reduced, there will be 15 or 16 ministries left in Ukraine, the prime minister said at the time.

Shmyhal revealed the government's plans to create a "Government Center" that will provide "supportive administrative functions."

"The ministries should formulate policies, and the Government Center, in turn, will provide legal, personnel, accounting, and other support," the prime minister explained.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a press conference on Feb. 25 that he was discussing the ministries reduction with Shmyhal due to lack of funding.

"This is the format we are preparing for reducing the number of ministries, reducing the number of ministers, and cheaper management. Not easier to manage, but more coordinated," Zelensky said.

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