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Ministry of Finance launches eData Portal for tracking public funds online

Kyiv, 15 September – The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine launched the eData Portal to disclose government spending at all levels.

 
1395414012-5636This initiative has started as a small pilot initiative on disclosing municipal budget information, supported by UNDP Ukraine and other partners, and now grew into a much bigger project to stimulate state bodies to disclose public information in the open data format.
 
"The Ministry of Finance is introducing a revolutionary IT platform that will ensure more transparent use of public funds. After completion of the project, all citizens of Ukraine will be able to check the use of the state budget," noted Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko.
 
Created to increase transparency and efficiency of budget allocation and to help combat corruption, the Portal consists of two main parts: Use of Public Funds and Transparent Budget. The first one will include the State Treasury's transactions and public funds use reports, and the second one will contain information on the transparency of budgetary procedures.
 
The eData Portal is currently running in a test mode with only the State Treasury's payment transactions available.
 
Head of the State Treasury Tetiana Sliuz added that the Portal will not disclose information marked as secret and information for official use only, costs associated with the defense of the state and anti-terrorist operation, as well as personal data.
 
Everyone is encouraged to use actively this Portal to control financial activity of authorities. Access to information, published on the eData Portal, is absolutely free of charge. It meets public interest concerning control, formation, distribution, and use of public funds by administrators and beneficiaries of the State Budget of Ukraine and local budgets, as well as by the Pension Fund bodies, enterprises, and funds of obligatory state social insurance.
 
"This is a new effective mechanism of control. Every citizen will be able to see how the money is spent," said Ms. Jaresko.
 
Information about the local budget expenditures will be added to the Portal in November this year, and data on public and state-owned enterprises will be available in 2016.