\nOn November 8, a presentation of the Municipal Economic Development Fund "MER" took place in the conference hall of the "Ukraine" hotel. The fund was created in Lutsk on October 7 by renaming and optimizing the structure of one of the existing charitable foundations. Representatives of the city's most powerful business structures and respected public and political figures agreed to join the Fund's Supervisory Board. \n"The main idea behind creating the 'MER' Fund is the development and implementation of substantial municipal economic development programs that are relevant to the public throughout the city," reported Taisiia Batorevych, head of the Fund, an experienced economist and manager, and former head of the main department of economy of the Volyn Regional State Administration. \nThrough public opinion surveys, public hearings, and discussions in the press, the Fund will determine the highest-priority directions for the city's development. The resources accumulated in the Fund will be directed to local targeted programs that are not funded or are insufficiently funded from the budget and other sources. All Fund programs will be financed openly and transparently, and reporting on the use of funds will be accessible to all interested parties. \nAccording to the results of the latest survey of Lutsk residents conducted by the "Leon-Analitik" Consortium, the most pressing local problems are: employment, growing corruption and bribery, high utility tariffs, problems of social protection for the low-income, improvement of housing conditions, and others. \nIn each of the listed problems there are aspects that, for various reasons, are not being addressed by the local authorities; therefore, the Fund's organizers believe that the priority allocation of funds should be determined by eliminating precisely these problems. A presentation by the Fund of specific targeted programs to be financed will take place soon. \n"We are aware that the Fund may experience a certain influence related to the upcoming elections: a struggle will begin not of teams and development concepts, but of certain individuals from parties," noted the Fund's public consultant Oleksandr Martyniuk. "We want to propose a somewhat different scenario of events so that the election campaign is not a banal comparison of the qualities of the people who are running with those who are in power; it should be a concrete discussion about the city's development strategy." \n \n