St Helier, the capital of the Bailiwick of Jersey (the Crown Dependency), offered Mykolaiv to become twin cities.

This was reported by The Jersey Evening Post

Such an offer is said to come after Ukrainians living in St Helier expressed their interest in the city twinning initiative, stating it would be a “valuable gesture of support for the municipality in an extremely difficult period”. It is noted that such an initiative should be voted on at the parish meeting on 22 February.

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych welcomed the city twinning proposal, while St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft and the city attorney recommended a memorandum of partnership.

 “I am happy to propose the twinning of St Helier and the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. Parishioners have shown such incredible support for those who suffered from the devastating conflict in Ukraine, and this twinning symbolises our ongoing connection and commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine and, in particular, the residents of Mykolaiv,” said Simon Crowcroft.

Jersey is reported to continue providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine. This month, Jersey Overseas Aid committed a further £400,000 to assist in resolving the humanitarian situation.

As a sign of support for its sister city, St Helier is holding a concert for Mykolaiv on Friday.

“Decentralisation” reminds that municipalities of Ukraine can use “International Municipal Partnership” Guidelines to build communication with foreign municipalities and enter into twinning agreements. These Guidelines offer algorithms and practical advice on establishing a partnership, cases of successful partnerships, practical advice on customs clearance and accounting of various types of assistance that partners can exchange, information on how to choose partners, how to organise the work of competent professionals or division, as well as information on financing, bookkeeping and reporting and a lot of other useful information.

Based on these Guidelines, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine developed the Partnership for Recovery and Development section of the Decentralization national portal, with the support of DECIDE (Decentralisation for Improved Democratic Education), a Swiss-Ukrainian project, and the U-LEAD with Europe Programme.

These Guidelines are based on the methodology of the Council of Europe, City to City Cooperation, and developed by the Council of Europe as part of the Programme “Decentralisation and Public Administration Reform in Ukraine” at the request of the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine.