The Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine and the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation will jointly implement Ukraine’s Cohesion and Regional Development project (UCORD). Its goal is to establish effective cooperation between central and local authorities, the business community and the public in matters of recovery of Ukraine and regional development.

The Memorandum of Cooperation was signed by Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine — Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, and André Huber, Head of Cooperation at the Embassy of Switzerland to Ukraine.

“The success of Ukraine’s recovery depends on the efficiency and coordinated efforts of all interested parties, including the central government, local self-government, business community, the public and international partners. Using the potential and expertise of the Regional Development Agencies is one of the basic conditions in this context. Regional development agencies are an inclusive platform where all parties can work together to develop recovery plans, update regional development strategies, etc. I would like to extend my gratitude to our Swiss partners for their interest and willingness to help Ukraine in the development of the regional development policy and the implementation of the decentralisation reform,” said Oleksandr Kubrakov.

According to the Memorandum, the central government and local self-government bodies will also cooperate with the business community in providing quality services in critical areas for the population such as water supply, drainage and waste management.

The document also provides for the creation of a joint Supervisory Board, which will monitor the implementation of the project. This will contribute to the improvement of transparency and accountability of the use of funds directed to the implementation of the initiative.

The UCORD project is in line with the goals and objectives of the State Regional Development Strategy for 2021-2027.

Regional development agencies are non-state, non-profit institutions created under the Law of Ukraine “On the Foundations of State Regional Policy”. Their key goal is to support the regional government and local self-government bodies in the process of forming and implementing state regional policy, in particular regarding the drafting of regional development strategies and action plans for their implementation, etc.

The agencies were created in all regions of Ukraine, except Kharkiv and Mykolaiv. Work is currently underway to launch agencies in these two regions.