A meeting was held at the level of the governments of Ukraine and Germany with the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze. Ukraine was represented by the First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Yulia Svyrydenko, and the Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine, Minister of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, Oleksii Kuleba.

The meeting focused on coordinating joint projects of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany and the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine and discussing priorities and action plans.

In particular, an important agreement was reached on allocating additional funds to purchase mobile heating systems.

The parties also emphasized the strengthening of the role of local governments in restoration and further support for the decentralization reform by Germany.

Oleksii Kuleba thanked Germany for its financial support in reconstructing Ukraine’s affected communities and territories and noted the successful organization of the international Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2024) in Berlin. During the conference, the leading role of communities and regions in reconstruction was outlined.

“Germany has become the largest donor to Ukraine, providing support of 37 billion euros. Thanks to German assistance, Ukraine’s energy supply system remains functional even in wartime. We highly value the friendship and strategic partnership with Germany in reconstructing Ukraine’s affected communities and regions. I would like to express my special gratitude for transferring cogeneration units to Kharkiv, our front-line city,” Oleksii Kuleba noted.

Oleksii Kuleba also called on German partners to join the Recovery Operational Group, which was launched to strengthen cooperation between members of the Ukrainian Donor Platform (UDP) and special representatives of the governments of partner countries. The operational group facilitates the exchange of information on updating needs and coordinating projects to accelerate and improve their implementation.

Regarding the key priorities for 2025, the following were identified:

• continuation of the decentralization reform;
• implementation of specific projects on the ground to ensure adequate housing conditions for those in need, in particular IDPs;
• solving the problem of ensuring constant access to clean water for residents of South of Ukraine, namely, the construction of a water supply system in Mykolaiv and Mykolaiv region;
• ensuring the heating season, especially in front-line regions, namely, ensuring the supply of cogeneration units for communities in Sumy region;
• construction of the second and third levels of protection at energy facilities.

“Today, more than 10% of Ukraine’s housing stock has been destroyed or damaged, affecting almost 2 million families. More than 4.6 million of our citizens have become internally displaced persons. Therefore, providing social housing for the most vulnerable categories of citizens is also a priority. For the implementation of housing restoration projects in 2025, we have a request for more than 1.6 billion US dollars,” added Oleksii Kuleba.

A separate issue is supporting the stable functioning of the Ukrainian Sea Corridor, protecting ports and ships, which guarantees global food security.

For their part, the Deputy Ministers who participated in the meeting outlined the main areas of work, considering the priorities of the Government and European integration processes. Namely, the issue was the adoption of the State Regional Development Strategy until 2027, which is part of the Ukraine Facility and meets the European Commission’s recommendations in the regional policy field. The Ministry plans to adapt the Strategy in accordance with the reform of public investment management and the challenges of wartime, taking into account the socio-economic division of Ukraine into three macro-regions - frontline, central, and western regions.

Cooperation with GIZ and their contribution to strengthening the energy sustainability of our country through the transfer of cogeneration units to the most affected communities were separately noted.

The Ministry expressed interest in continuing bilateral cooperation to support energy efficiency reform and exchange experience in forming and implementing state policy in this area.

Regarding cooperation in the transport sector, the Ukrainian side voiced interest in concluding an intergovernmental agreement to increase the fleet of electric locomotives.

The Ministry is also interested in continuing cooperation between communities in Ukraine and the EU. In particular, to increase the capacity of local governments to manage their own recovery and development, prepare quality projects and integrate the local investment component as an integral part of the public investment reform.

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