The reform of administrative division in Ukraine: problems of territorial communities’ formation in the Polish-Ukrainian borderland

Issues of the administrative division in the broader context of political and administrative reforms connected with democratization and decentralization are considered. Some historical aspects of the administrative division modeling in Ukrainian borderlands are analyzed. Goals, mechanisms and the course of the current reform of administrative division at the local level in the Volyn and Lviv provinces are presented. The specifics of wealthy communities – new administrative units at the local level are outlined. Features of budget decentralization based on the example of comparing the structure of local government revenue are characterized. The problems and threats faced by the organizers at the present stage of reform are revealed, and some solutions to problematic situations in implementation of the new administrative division are proposed.