Minregion and the World Bank discuss further cooperation on regional development

Vitalii Bezghin met Aparnaa Somanathan, World Bank Regional Director for Human Development in Europe and Central Asia.

One key topic was further reform of the State Regional Development Fund, which the World Bank has supported since 2023. In 2026, 113 projects are being implemented through the Fund in 22 regions with the participation of 92 local authorities.

Minregion is working on the next stage of the Fund’s reform: moving from financing individual facilities to supporting medium-term investment plans of regions and communities.

“The Fund must become an effective instrument for regional development. It is important to move to multi-year planning and bring the Fund closer to European approaches. We discussed expert support for this work with the World Bank,” said Vitalii Bezghin.

They also discussed development of the “Side by Side” project and intermunicipal cooperation — partnerships between communities, joint projects and opportunities to attract international support.

Other topics included preparation for the annual Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA), housing policy, energy efficiency and support for IDPs, including major repairs to apartment buildings, voucher mechanisms for IDPs, thermal modernisation and integration of IDP needs into recovery programmes.