“My principle is the Ministry’s openness to civil society, external expertise and objective analysis” — Vitalii Bezghin (Vitaliy Bezgin).

Vitalii Bezghin, Minister for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, took part in the presentation of a diagnostic report on Ukraine’s recovery system by EU4Reconstruction and RISE Ukraine - Coalition for Reconstruction, alongside representatives of the EU, France and Germany.

Reconstruction is already taking place alongside European integration. Regional development and the role of communities must therefore be built into the recovery and public investment management system itself.

Communities know their needs best and must influence which projects receive funding. This requires strong local specialists who know how to prepare and implement projects and work with European funds.

Another principle is transparency: clear project selection, open funding data, accountability for results and the ability to monitor the use of funds.

We agreed to continue cooperation with civil society representatives on public investment reform, the digitalisation of reconstruction and strengthening community capacity. Partners are ready to support these areas.

I thank the European Union, Germany, France, Denmark and Lithuania for supporting EU4Reconstruction and RISE Ukraine, and communities and civil society for a substantive discussion.