"The decree’s purpose was to increase the effectiveness of advisory bodies under the President of Ukraine," Serhiy Lyovochkin said, adding: the structure of departments has been harmonized to better organize the performance of his constitutional obligations by the President of Ukraine.
"The decree has changed the structure of these two advisory bodies to the President of Ukraine, and optimized them. There is general reduction in comparison with 2009: out of 740 people 604 are now working at the Presidential Administration and in the NSDC staff combined," Serhiy Lyovochkin said.
He stressed that the President has established several new offices that will allow the Administration to work more efficiently. In particular, the Central Department of Access to Public Information, which has been created for the first time in Ukraine for the purpose of effective communication with the media.
Serhiy Lyovochkin drew particular attention to the establishment of two new departments on the basis of the Central Department of Social-Economic Policy: the Central Department of Economic Policy and Economic Reforms and the Central Department for Management of Social Reforms.
"These are the issues that the President pays great attention to," the Chief of Staff at the Presidential Administration said.
Serhiy Lyovochkin also underscored the decision to divide the Department of Relations with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine into two separate bodies. "Earlier, both teams had been working within one department, but the communication and work will be more effective if they work separately," he said.
In addition, the new structure of the Administration now includes the Central Department for Constitutional and Legal Modernization, which will work on the issue of reforming the Constitution and the election laws.
The decree also provides for establishment of the Department for European Integration to strengthen the work in this direction.
Serhiy Lyovochkin drew particular attention to the reduction of the number of Deputy Chiefs of Staff. "The decree reads that the number of deputy heads of each central government body should be 1 (first deputy head) + 1 (in some cases – two deputy heads). Thus, the President has determined that there will be one First Deputy Chief of Staff and Deputy Chiefs of Staff in the structure of the Presidential Administration," Serhiy Lyovochkin said.
He said that after the redistribution of vacancies between the Presidential Administration and the NSDC, the number of employees of the latter was reduced and its structure has become more modern and efficient.
According to the decision of the President, identical reduction of staff and the number of deputy heads will soon be conducted in the local administrations, Serhiy Lyovochkin said.
