During the international conference Rebuilding Ukraine: Security, Opportunities, Investment, held on 11–12 December 2025 in Bucharest, the Cities4Cities initiative signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Association of Public Administrators of Romania (Asociația Administratorilor Publici din România).

The agreement was signed by Svitlana Blinova, Cities4Cities Coordinator, and Marian Florea, President of the Association of Public Administrators of Romania.

This Memorandum reflects the practical level of cooperation between Ukrainian communities and Romanian municipalities, in which knowledge, experience and professional teams are key.

This is particularly important in the context of Ukraine’s future participation in European funding programmes. When it joined the EU, Romania lost billions of euros due to a lack of procedures and capacity to work with public procurement, as well as a lack of trained teams and project management experience at the local level.

‘In my municipality, funding had been approved from EU sources – the money was in the account. However, we were unable to use it. We lacked the necessary knowledge, projects, and procedures. Ultimately, we had to return the funds. It was painful. We do not want Ukrainian communities to go through the same experience,’ said Marian Florea.

The partners agreed to cooperate in four key areas: organising study visits and internships; developing the professional competencies of municipal teams; jointly preparing for participation in European programmes and grants; and exchanging experience in digitalisation, logistics, public services, and management.

‘This is a logical continuation of the need for experience, with Romanian cities sharing their expertise with Ukrainian cities at an expert level. We are already considering study visits involving internships in Romania, as well as online courses and live training. This will be valuable for both European integration and participation in EU programmes,’ added Svitlana Blinova, Cities4Cities Coordinator.