The Varash City Council and the Finnish municipality of Loviisa have approved a twinning agreement between the cities.

This is reported by the official website of the Varash City Council.

It is stated that the cities will establish mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of science and technology related to nuclear energy issues and policies, regional development, environmental protection, rational use of natural resources and their reproduction, etc.

“I am glad that we have established friendly relations with the city we previously knew by the nuclear plant of the same name, as the Rivne NPP already has established contacts with it. I firmly believe that thanks to this cooperation, Varash will harmoniously join the community of European NPP satellite cities, which together solve problematic issues and work towards development. The city and the municipality of Varash can become a bridge to channel foreign aid for the recovery of Ukrainian satellite cities that have suffered the horrors of occupation. We talked with the mayor of Loviisa about aid to Ukraine, about supporting our country in the struggle for freedom and independence. I am positive that from now on, we will have one more partner, as reliable as our Polish sister city of Wołów that has been helping and supporting us since the first days of the full-scale invasion,” said Oleksandr Menzul, Mayor of Varash.

The approved agreement provides for the establishment of friendly relations for the exchange of best practices, contacts, information about industry, trade and services; assistance in the organisation of exhibitions, fairs, conferences and other events. Under the agreement, city delegations will make visits to support and develop initiated joint projects and ensure other cooperation.

Furthermore, the municipal teams identified the issue of the recovery of Ukraine and the support of Ukrainians in Loviisa as an important point of cooperation.

“Ukraine was brutally attacked by its eastern neighbour, Russia. Finland and all of Europe are united around Ukraine in restoring peace in Europe and the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Now is the time to intensify cooperation with Ukraine and to bring Ukraine and Finland closer at the local level as well. Finland and Loviisa should support Ukraine in the current situation and contribute to development and growth in the future. The twinning agreement between Varash and Loviisa will signal support as well as create an official framework for cooperation in political and economic matters related to atomic energy as well as in matters related to democracy, education and administration. In addition, I’d like to point out that Loviisa hosts a group of Ukrainian citizens [...]. In the long-term, the issue of reconstruction of Ukraine will also be important and will require the participation of all parties, which will be facilitated by the already established relations,” Jan D. Oker-Blom, Mayor of Loviisa, said in is accompanying message to the agreement.

One of the two NPP satellite cities in Finland, Loviisa is an important logistical and cultural centre. The cooperation between Varash and Loviisa takes place at the time when Ukraine has acquired the status of a candidate country for membership in the European Union.

In April 2021, the Varash municipality became one of the founders of the Association of Municipalities of NPP Monitoring Zones.

Decentralization reminds that municipalities of Ukraine can use the International Municipal Partnership Guidelines to build communication with foreign municipalities and enter into twinning agreements. These Guidelines offer algorithms and practical advice on establishing a partnership, cases of successful partnerships, practical advice on customs clearance and accounting of various types of assistance that partners can exchange, information on how to choose partners, how to organise the work of competent professionals or division, as well as information on financing, bookkeeping and reporting and a lot of other useful information.

Based on these Guidelines, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine developed the Partnership for Recovery and Development section of the Decentralization national portal, with the support of DECIDE (Decentralisation for Improved Democratic Education), a Swiss-Ukrainian project, and the U-LEAD with Europe Programme.

These Guidelines are based on the methodology of the Council of Europe, City to City Cooperation, and developed by the Council of Europe as part of the Programme “Decentralisation and Public Administration Reform in Ukraine” at the request of the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine.