On the instructions of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi, the head of the Office of the Head of State Andriy Yermak held an extended meeting of the Presidium of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the Head of State.
Representatives of the Office and government officials took part in the meeting, heads of OVA and city mayors joined in the format of a video conference.
“Although we are still in extreme conditions, we need to increase efficiency already today. I believe that this will be a powerful signal that the country lives, fights and will definitely win. There are many issues that we must solve in the interests of the citizens of Ukraine,” Andriy Yermak said.
Among the main issues of today’s meeting is the preparation for the Congress of local and regional authorities, which is to be held in March.
The meeting participants discussed the current state of Ukraine’s energy system and measures to overcome the consequences of Russia’s terrorist attacks on energy infrastructure facilities.
The Deputy Head of the Office of the President Oleksiy Kuleba stated: Ukraine managed to restore and stabilize the situation in the energy sector, but there are a number of issues that need to be resolved and measures that need to be taken. In particular, he focused on ensuring a fair distribution of electricity both among household consumers and among enterprises.
In the context of recovery, the participants of the meeting also discussed the issue of reconstruction of Ukraine. “It is important to approach the congress with a clear understanding of how we will work on recovery. The President has set himself the task of reducing all this to a single understanding. This is what our partners need, and we need it,” Andrii Yermak emphasized, noting that it is about what we need now and what we plan for the future.
Deputy Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine, Mustafa Nayem, presented the Agency for Reconstruction and Development of Infrastructure of Ukraine to the audience. He spoke about the functions of this structure, its priorities and the order of interaction with regions and communities.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal informed about the sources of funding for reconstruction. According to him, a corresponding special account was opened for the restoration of regions affected by Russian aggression. As the head of the government noted, the special fund is already being replenished thanks to the confiscated assets of Russian banks. It is also planned to fill it with the revenues of the National Bank of Ukraine and through financing from international partners.
According to Denys Shmyhal, there are five priorities: restoration of energy, damaged housing, critical infrastructure, demining and economic recovery – development of small and medium-sized businesses.
Separately, they discussed the necessity of forming the management personnel reserve of Ukraine in the conditions of today’s challenges, of which there are many.
According to Andriy Yermak, the opportunities and potential of the regions are not sufficiently used in order to replenish the personnel reserve of the state.
“Today, the state is in great need of young people with good experience (from foreign and Ukrainian universities) who are ready to work for the country. Conditions are extreme. We all live in a 24/7 format, but still, I believe that we are moving towards our victory, and therefore we must think today how we will restore all this, so a permanent powerful team must work,” said the head of the President’s Office.
Oleksiy Kuleba presented the concept of the management reserve, which involves the search, selection and training of motivated, ambitious, responsible and caring statesmen, the formation of a team of civil front workers who have passed a special program taking into account all the challenges and requirements of wartime.
“We have to work as hard and as hard as the military. We need to further change the attitude of civil servants and managers towards work. We have to keep our front,” the deputy head of the President’s Office is convinced.
“These people should be multi-functional specialists and, most importantly, not indifferent to their work and ready to help people,” he added.
The participants of the meeting also listened to the report of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko, regarding the interaction of the Ministry with local and regional authorities in order to form assault brigades of the “Offensive Guard”.
“We are currently choosing the best from among the most motivated, because the tasks facing these units will require high professionalism,” stated Ihor Klymenko.
He noted that, given the number of people willing to join the brigades, it is possible that the creation of new ones will be initiated in the future.
The participants of the meeting also discussed the issues of organizing and holding the international forum of communities and cities “Summit of Mayors “United Cities for the Future”.
