Equipment and materials to stabilise the energy infrastructure and assist in the housing of IDPs were the most expensive.

In 2022, 19 municipalities of the Chernihiv oblast received about EUR 1 million as emergency aid from U-LEAD. These are primarily generators, lighting equipment, loaders and materials for temporary housing of people. Iryna Kudryk, Head of the Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Chernihiv oblast, told about it during the Open Day, which was attended by more than 65 municipal officials online.

“At the same time, the main assistance contributed to the development and stability of local self-government institutions. In the conditions of a full-scale war, we held over 700 events for municipal officials of the oblast, which covered more than 3,000 participants. Today, we have new plans prepared and we are committed to helping municipalities implement ambitious projects,” she said.

Last year, professionals from five municipalities were trained as part of “Steps for Finance Professionals. 5 Steps to the 2023 Budget”, and teams of two more municipalities received training under “Steps for Project Managers”.

In addition, the municipalities of Horodok, Kyinka and Ladan joined the support programme “Budget Stabilisation Plan”, and the Dobrianka and Semenivka municipalities participated in “Strategic Leadership and Management”.

The Kulykiv municipality implemented the Library Coworking Project as part of the “Business-Friendly Municipality” competition for local subsidies. The cost of the project was 315,000 hryvnias, including 100,000 co-financed by the municipality.

“As for emergency aid projects, we helped prepare grant applications for five municipalities, Snovsk, Horodnia, Sosnytsia, Semenivka and Pryluky. Three of out of five have already received funding from grant programmes. A total of 4 projects were supported for a total amount of over 2,500,000 hryvnias,” said Iryna Kudryk.

This year, in addition to the usual training programmes, the municipalities of the oblast will be able to receive local subsidies from U-LEAD for their own unique initiatives, which will serve as model cases for other municipalities in the future.

“The experience of our cooperation is very valuable because we have seen how European institutions work. This knowledge will allow us to move forward. The support of the U-LEAD Programme is always timely; it meets our needs and often even anticipates them,” said Yuliia Posternak, head of the village of Kulykiv.

The municipalities of Kulykiv, Semenivka, Dobrianka, Snovsk, Horodnia and Mena also shared their good practices of cooperation with U-LEAD.