Decentralization of power in Ukraine in the conditions of the COVID-19

Decentralization and coronavirus - these are the two words that have recently been most often used in the information space of Ukraine. Therefore, the relevance of the topic of this article is twofold, as it stems from two current social and political issues addressed in the article - the fight against coronavirus and the fateful reform of decentralization of power for Ukraine. The purpose of the article is an objective analysis of the process of decentralization of power in the face of a serious challenge facing the Ukrainian state due to the coronavirus pandemic. The methodology of historical science is used for this purpose. The study is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity, specificity, systematics; analytical, descriptive methods were used in writing the article. The events of the final stage of the decentralization reform phase (2020) are considered, when the tasks of consolidation of districts, formation of a new administrative-territorial structure of the country, holding elections to new district councils and communities were solved. At the same time, all this was carried out in the context of the economic crisis, the coronavirus pandemic, the decline in the living standards of most people, and the decline in confidence in all branches of government. An important problem of decentralization of power has been the balance of state and regional interests, the establishment of interaction between the central government and local elites, mayors of large cities, whose role has increased due to anti-virus measures. An indicator of this was the successful performance in the local elections of regional parties and personally acting mayors. The novelty of the article is that it first considers the reform of decentralization of public administration in an unprecedented pandemic, which threatened the survival of large masses of people, the economy, the social order of Ukraine. Like most countries in the world.