Oleksii Chernyshov, Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, met with Valérie Pécresse, President of the Ile-de-France region, and Etienne de Poncins, French Ambassador to Ukraine.

The parties discussed the development of partnership between the cities and regions of Ukraine and France, the involvement of French businesses in the reconstruction efforts in Ukraine, as well as the results of the decentralisation reform.

“For Ukraine today, the support of the European communities in the reconstruction of the municipalities that suffered as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation is extremely important. I would like to thank France for its intention to start such a partnership between the Île-de-France region and the Chernihiv and Kyiv regions. This support is important to us, and we aim to increase the number of such partnerships with French municipalities. We strive to learn all the best practices and innovative solutions from the EU in order to build a modern, smart, ‘green’ and competitive state,” said Oleksii Chernyshov.

During the meeting, the Minister presented the concept and approach to reforming and rebuilding Ukraine after the peace is reached.

In particular, Oleksii Chernyshov noted that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the EU Council, Charles Michel, supported the initiative of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to involve EU countries, regions, and cities through the partnership of municipalities in the restoration of destroyed Ukrainian regions and municipalities.

“We are calling on European local and regional authorities to establish partnerships today, as our municipalities now urgently need help with short-term projects aimed at solving vital issues. These include the restoration of drinking water supply, centralised heating and priority mitigation of the consequences of hostilities in the residential areas,” said the Minister.