By the end of 2025, 203 development and restoration projects will have been completed in communities across Ukraine. This announcement was made by Oleksii Riabykin, Deputy Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine.

According to the Deputy Minister, the projects are funded through several sources, including recovery programmes in partnership with the European Investment Bank, State Fund for Regional Development (SFRD) funds, remaining EU sectoral support funds, and a dedicated Kharkiv city subsidy.

‘The important thing is that people will notice these changes. This affects more than five million community residents,’ emphasised Oleksii Riabykin.

As the Deputy Minister noted, projects were ranked exclusively through the DREAM digital ecosystem for the first time this year. Communities submitted applications, which were then assessed by regional military administrations. A commission comprising representatives of relevant ministries and all-Ukrainian associations of local governments then reviewed the projects online, with the involvement of communities and regional military administrations. The RISE Ukraine coalition of civil society institutions also joined the selection process.

For the first time, compliance with strategic documents for community and regional development became a mandatory selection criterion.

According to Oleksii Riabykin, frontline regions received special attention. Half of all resources were allocated to supporting these regions.

‘Of course, we are prioritising the frontline regions. Half of the resources have been allocated to supporting these areas, particularly for constructing bomb shelters and restoring housing and social infrastructure,’ said the Deputy Minister.

He also announced that funding for the State Regional Development Fund will be maintained for the coming year. However, the amount of funding remains extremely limited.

‘UAH 2 billion in 2026 is critically insufficient for the development and restoration of communities and regions. The requested amount exceeds the available funding by at least seven times,’ emphasised Oleksii Riabykin.

Meanwhile, the Ministry for Development, in partnership with the European Commission and ULEAD and EU4Reconstruction programmes, is continuing to work on the transformation of the State Fund for Regional Development into a comprehensive financial instrument for the implementation of public investment projects in communities and regions.

‘This means more resources, better predictability and accountability, and more successful projects,’ said the Deputy Minister.

He also thanked everyone involved in the process who helped to achieve this result.