Rapid recovery should become one of the symbols of our resilience
Іn March 4, in Lviv, a meeting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine was held. The event was attended by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, Head of the Presidential Office and Chairman of the Presidium of the Congress Andriy Yermak, members of the Government, heads of regional administrations, representatives of local self-government and heads of communities, foreign partners.
“We have preserved the functionality of the state. We have made it so that the presence of the Ukrainian flag means the presence of normal life in Ukraine, normal social opportunities. And when we liberate our land from the enemy, everyone knows – not only in Ukraine – that we return everything. We bring back lives, we bring back everything people need: transportation, communications, social benefits, healthcare, electricity and water. We rebuild the infrastructure. Thousands of different facilities that were damaged or destroyed by the occupiers have been restored,” President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal emphasized that one of the symbols of Ukrainians’ resilience should be the rapid recovery and implementation of projects with clearly defined priorities: energy, housing, humanitarian demining, critical, social, and transport infrastructure, and support for small and medium-sized businesses. The Head of Government noted that there was already a part of funds in the state budget for the recovery as well as agreements with partners on financial support.
“In total, we can count on UAH 150 billion this year, which will be used primarily to restore energy, housing, and critical infrastructure. Available and potential financial resources should be used as efficiently and effectively as possible. This requires clear interaction between the Government, regional administrations and communities,” emphasized Denys Shmyhal.
The Head of Government noted that people should see the effect of recovery this year. He emphasized that it was important to quickly carry out all the preparatory work that would precede the reconstruction, in particular to develop project documentation and verify information in the Register of Damaged and Destroyed Property. According to Denys Shmyhal, more than 500 communities have already submitted information to the Register.
The Prime Minister also noted that the Government expected the entry into force of a draft law 7198 adopted by the Verkhovna Rada, after which the Government would be ready to promptly adopt all bylaws to launch the recovery process.