Bucha municipality in the Kyiv region is actively recovering thanks to the support of the regional and central authorities of Ukraine as well as international partners.

This was stated by Anatolii Fedoruk, Head of Bucha municipality, at the online forum “Bridges of Trust between Ukraine and Slovenia: Partnerships that Inspire and Save Lives” organised by the U-LEAD with Europe Programme, Ukrinform reports .

Anatolii Fedoruk noted that for a month, Bucha was under the occupation of Russian troops who destroyed residential buildings and critical housing and municipal infrastructure, killed people and left 770 families homeless. Cultural, educational, and sports facilities were also affected.

“The devastation our municipality has experienced in terms of economic management has actually reduced our income by 60%. We are working to restore the economic capacity of our municipality or attract new companies," said Anatolii Fedoruk.

He noted that in just a short time, it was possible to restore critical infrastructure in the municipality, and the local population is returning.

“Our residents are returning to the municipality, and that makes us happy. We observe that out of 55,000, our current population is about 30,000, which indicates the desire of the people to return to the town because it has become safer thanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and more comfortable thanks to the efforts of the entire municipality and its executive structures in cooperation with the regional and central authorities,” said Anatolii Fedoruk.

He pointed out that the municipality had also received international support, in particular from the municipalities of European cities. In this regard, he thanked the U-LEAD with Europe Programme, which helps establish communication with the municipalities of EU countries.

According to Anatolii Fedoruk, the Bucha municipality received food, medicines, generators, and other technical equipment from partners while it was still occupied, and after liberation, the assistance continued.

“It would be quite difficult to recover, repair, and organise the city economy on our own. I am deeply grateful to my colleagues from the municipalities, in particular Vladimir Prebilič, Mayor of Kočevje, for the initiative and support he generated,” said Anatolii Fedoruk.

In turn, the mayor of Kočevje, Vice-President of the Association of Municipalities and Cities of Slovenia, Vladimir Prebilić, emphasised that cooperation with Ukraine began three years ago thanks to the U-LEAD with Europe Programme. He noted that since the war began, the municipalities of Slovenia, thanks to cooperation with U-LEAD with Europe Programme, have joined the provision of humanitarian aid to Ukrainian municipalities. According to him, the municipality of Kočevje will organise a summer camp for children from Bucha in early August. Ukrainian children will enjoy sports activities and trips in Slovenia.

In addition, Vladimir Prebilić invited representatives of the local self-government of Ukraine to exchange experiences with their Slovenian colleagues, in particular representatives of the Bucha municipality.

Samuel Žbogar, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, noted that more than 20 Slovenian municipalities are already cooperating with their counterparts in Ukraine under the U-LEAD with Europe Programme.

According to Andrej Horvat, Deputy Director of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme, the Bridges of Trust initiative is aimed at establishing cooperation between the municipalities of Ukraine and those of EU countries. In wartime, the necessary humanitarian aid is also transferred to Ukrainian municipalities under this initiative.

“We are currently working with 12 EU member states that are involved in this initiative. We are directly focused on small, medium-level municipalities... Bridges of Trust allowed us to collect information quickly and provide Ukraine with three trucks of humanitarian aid as part of this initiative,” he said.

According to Viacheslav Nehoda, Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, it was thanks to the leaders of the local self-government that the Russian aggression was repelled not only by the Armed Forces, but also by the Territorial Defence supported by the local authorities.

The government official pointed out that the municipalities are forced to work in varying conditions: in the war zone, in the occupied territories, in the liberated areas (Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy regions), where the infrastructure needs to be restored, and the municipalities in the rear are dealing with internally displaced persons.

“In wartime, local self-government in Ukraine showed its exceptional effectiveness, united for the victory of Ukraine. I believe that this is also one of the results of decentralisation,” he said.

The Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine also noted that decentralisation needs to be fully completed, and the final stage of the reform is to be implemented by 2025.