ANALYTICAL NOTE “HAS THE GOVERNMENT LOST IMPORTANT POWERS WHEN LIQUIDATING THE MINISTRY OF REINTEGRATION?”

On 24 January 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution No. 1131 , which finalised the transformation processes in the Government that led to the reorganisation (and in fact, liquidation) of the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine (hereinafter – the Ministry of Reintegration).

Information about the possible transfer of some of the powers of the Ministry of Reintegration to the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine (hereinafter – the Ministry for Development) first appeared in September 2024. On 5 December 2024, the Ministry of Reintegration was renamed the Ministry of National Unity of Ukraine (hereinafter – the Ministry of National Unity) and a Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Unity of Ukraine, was appointed.

On 31 December 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution No. 15453 , which ensured the transfer of a significant part of the powers of the Ministry of National Unity to the Ministry for Development. The transferred powers include the reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories, protection of the rights of the population in these territories, restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and development of the territories after reintegration, etc.

The Ministry of Reintegration had a wide range of powers that were transferred not only to the Ministry for Development. Thus, the task of providing humanitarian aid to civilians during the armed aggression was transferred to the Ministry of Social Policy. It also defined a list of tasks in the field of social support: coordination with local authorities on social support for IDPs, development of proposals for the Government, and implementation of measures to return illegally displaced (deported) children to the territory of Ukraine.

However, not all the powers of the Ministry of Reintegration were redistributed among other ministries – some of them were “lost” when the relevant provisions were amended and as of the beginning of May 2025 are not exercised by any central executive authorities of Ukraine.

Other powers were not revised or adapted to the real situation in 2025, but were simply added to the updated regulation of the Ministry for Development without a critical review of the wording and the expediency of including these powers in the list of tasks of the Ministry for Development. For example, the Ministry for Development, like other ministries, has no authority to reintegrate the TOT of Ukraine. It is worth noting that the Ministry of Reintegration did not have the relevant powers either – its regulations contained a task to develop the temporarily occupied territory after its reintegration, as well as the adjacent territories. This provision was transferred to the regulation of the Ministry for Development without a critical review of the need to implement the reintegration policy only after the de-occupation of the TOT of Ukraine.

The purpose of the analytical note is to analyse the provisions of key central executive authorities to ensure that they incorporate the content of the powers of the Ministry of Reintegration with a focus on ensuring the sustainability of state policy regarding the TOT of Ukraine, their population and other categories of victims of armed aggression against Ukraine.