I am very pleased to introduce this first issue of the Country Governance Monitor. This electronic-publication is prepared on behalf of the World Bank office for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine and aims to update our readers on key governance-related news and World Bank activities. We understand governance as the framework of rules and relationships within which governments deliver public services to enterprises and citizens and are held accountable by them. The launch of this newsletter reflects the importance we in the World Bank place on good governance as a core ingredient of development effectiveness. This includes paying close attention to how the resources we provide through our programs and projects are utilized, but goes beyond this to include a broader look at the progress made and constraints faced by our clients in achieving improved socio-economic outcomes.

On April 7, two days after Parliamentary elections, a large-scale and violent protest caught many by surprise. The tensions and polarization that has been created within Moldovan society will pose a significant challenge to the next Government in Chisinau. The political tensions could be further exacerbated by the global economic crisis.

On May 7, 2009, an “Eastern Partnership Summit,” comprising the heads of State and representatives of all EU Member States and the six Eastern European non-member states adopted in Prague a Political Declaration for the launch of a new partnership agreement.

A recent IFC study of the technical regulations in Ukraine showed that the existing system is one of the key constraints to business development in Ukraine. It can cost from $2000-$8000 USD per enterprise to comply with all technical regulatory requirements. This system prevents start-ups to emerge, hinders innovation, and restricts export opportunities.

The World Bank in Ukraine and the USAID’s project on Promoting Active Citizen Engagement (ACTION) in Combating Corruption in Ukraine announced the winners of the National Essay Contest 2008 "Corruption in Higher Educational Institutions."

Housing and communal services (HCS) in Ukraine remain one of the last unreformed sectors. With a dilapidating housing stock, growing prices of energy and communal services, together with the deepening economic crisis and dwindling state resources (central and local) to support the sector, key actors to demand improvements and take responsibilities will be housing (condominium) associations. Currently only six percent of the Ukrainian flat owners are mobilized in such associations (compared with 25% in Poland at the similar stage of economic transition). To support and speed up this process, a Housing Coalition, an informal union of advocacy and community groups, was launched in February 2008.

Corruption deprives 1.25 billion people of access to drinking water, according to the UN World Water Development Report 2006

This Sourcebook aims to help sector practitioners to assess the extent and risk of corruption in sectors in which they work and to improve governance in ways that will reduce corruption by improving governance; to allow learning from experience.

This publication is a major output of a larger program on Governance and Anti-Corruption in the electricity sector.

In light of the increased focus on good governance, academics and legislative strengthening practitioners are re-examining parliament's oversight function with a view to increasing public financial accountability, curbing corruption, and poverty reduction.

This program features successful collective action examples and offers practical guidance for both corporate decisionmakers doing business.

In order to ascertain the best entry point for engaging with legislatures in the ECA region, WBI in partnership with the IMF and the Joint Vienna Institute is organizing a regional ECA workshop on "Parliaments and the Budget Process" in Vienna from July 27 - 31, 2009.

The AEP course is a comprehensive course comprising macroeconomics, governance and private sector management, social and labor market policies, financial sector issues, private sector development and corporate governance, financial programming and issues of economic integration in a European context.

As part of the joint LGI/OSI/WBI training Program for Anticorruption Practitioners, World Bank Institute will provide training in Istanbul to participants from nine countries about reinventing local governments in order to cure and prevent corruption. Participants will facilitate a simulation of a workshop for mayors and will develop their action plans focusing on the dissemination of the strategic and practical anticorruption approaches

This international seminar is organized by the International Emergency Management Society and is planned as a global event in response to increased systemic risks and adverse shocks. It discusses the adverse effects of negative shocks for growth and economic management, with focus on fiscal costs and economic growth.

Several members of the European Parliament have launched a cross-party petition urging the European Commission and Member States to propose legislation and mechanisms to fight corruption.