At the end of last year, the Cooperation Agreement was signed by Volodymyr Kuleshov, mayor of Hnivan, and Renata Kosec, mayor of Domžale. This is the result of the educational visit of representatives of the municipality to Slovenia, organised under the Post-War Recovery of Ukraine, a programme implemented by the Centre for European Perspective (@CEP) in cooperation with U-LEAD and funded by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia.
The partnership involves cooperation in civil defence and project management, exchange of experience and best practices and organisation of youth, cultural and professional exchanges between Ukrainian and Slovenian participants.
“During the internship, we saw that our cooperation with Domžale opens up great prospects for the development of both municipalities. First, since Ukraine is a candidate for EU membership, it is critical for local self-government to have partners among European municipalities. Second, we will share our experience and implement joint projects in various fields,” said Vitalii Mazur, Deputy Mayor of Hnivan. As he further added, Ukrainian municipalities should have partners among EU municipalities in order to attract grants from European donors for the implementation of joint projects.
According to him, the municipality of Hnivan received a proposal to find partners at the international level from the team of U-LEAD with Europe in the Vinnytsia Oblast:
“We were offered to participate in the Bridges of Trust programme. We filled out the application and provided information about our municipality. I’m delighted that it worked and that a Slovenian municipality responded to our proposal.”
During his visit to Slovenia, Vitalii Mazur and his colleagues learned about the EU accession-related adjustments to the activities of municipalities. During the conversation, Ms. Kosec stressed the importance of transparency, integrity and the fight against corruption at the municipal level.
They also studied the basics of project management, practised writing projects and started preparing the basis for two projects that they would like to implement in the Hnivan municipality with the help of Slovenian experts and partners in Domžale.
The participants of the visit learned about the practice of creating a strong civil defence system in the municipality, as Domžale is a very successful case of that. They talked to stakeholders involved in the management of the civil defence system in the municipality, including professionals, firefighters, representatives of volunteer fire brigades, rescue service, local radio club, K9 rescue service, etc.
In order to understand how municipalities establish a waste management system, they visited the Domžale-Kamnik Central Wastewater Treatment Plant. This sewage treatment and waste management company was created by six municipalities as a joint utility company and modernised after attracting EU funds.
In the near future, the municipalities of Hnivan and Domžale will decide on an action plan for 2024.
In turn, Vitalii Shvets, Head of the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Vinnytsia Oblast, noted the following:
“The cooperation of our municipalities with their EU counterparts offers great opportunities for the implementation of joint projects and the exchange of best practices. This is an effective mechanism for establishing long-term ties that will contribute to the European integration of Ukraine.”