A modern social housing system and concrete projects to launch it are an important area of cooperation between Minregion and the European Commission

This was discussed during an online meeting between Deputy Minister Nataliia Kozlovska and Gabriel Blanc, head of the European Commission’s Ukraine Recovery Task Force. The Ministry informed partners of the current status of three main issues: finalising the social housing bill, forming a Coalition of Partners and implementing pilot projects in communities.

Creating a social housing system is one of Ukraine’s commitments under the Ukraine Facility. The relevant bill was developed with expert support from the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, the Council of Europe and the World Bank. It is currently undergoing interagency approval. In the coming months, the document is to be submitted to the Government and then to the Verkhovna Rada.

A separate area is the creation of a Coalition of Partners for social housing development to help communities expand their housing stock. This involves practical matters such as coordinating investment, preparing quality projects by communities and mobilising financing.

“Today, partners are asking for concrete social housing projects to be implemented. Different approaches are being proposed. It is important that these projects comply with the principles we are setting out in the social housing bill. We are bringing together a Coalition of Partners and developing shared, clear rules for implementing and scaling such projects. This will help avoid differences between regions and create a clear framework for implementing projects in practice,” said Nataliia Kozlovska.

A practical step will be a social housing pilot project that Ukraine is preparing jointly with the European Commission and the EIB. Its volume is approximately EUR 100 million. By the end of the year, Minregion plans to complete ratification of the relevant agreements, operational procedures and assessment of communities’ financial capacity. Practical implementation of the project is planned to begin early next year.