Kyiv hosted the 4th International Summit of Cities and Regions under the slogan “Partnership. Resilience. Readiness”. This is the main event held with international partners in the run-up to URC-2026 in Gdańsk, coordinated by the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine.

 

 

The event brought together over 500 participants: 150 international guests, including 19 mayors of partner cities and heads of partner regions, as well as over 200 representatives of Ukrainian communities and regions.

 

 

On behalf of the Government and the state leadership, the event was attended by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine; Ruslan Stefanchuk, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada; Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the President’s Office; and Yuliia Svyrydenko, Prime Minister. Oleksii Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine – Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine also participated in the Summit.

 

 

Foreign guests included Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy of the Republic of Poland; Mathieu Mori, Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe; Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the democratic forces in Belarus; and Mayors of Gdańsk, Le Havre, Budapest, Tallinn and other cities.

Within the framework of the Summit, a panel discussion “Resilience of life support systems: From emergency response to systemic transformation” was held, moderated by First Deputy Minister Aliona Shkrum, with Oleksii Kuleba speaking.

 

 

‘What Ukraine is building today is a new model, an architecture of resilience that is relevant to the whole of Europe. Nowadays, Ukraine is sui generis. Most models of post-war restoration around the world were implemented only after hostilities had ceased.

We, however, are rebuilding our infrastructure whilst under attack, implementing reforms during the war, and modernising the state whilst simultaneously defending it. We have practical experience, a systematic approach, and expertise. Ukrainians did not acquire this experience of their own volition, but we have it and are ready to share it,’ notes Oleksii Kuleba.

 

 

Oleksii Kuleba emphasised that Ukraine is moving from an immediate emergency response to a systematic approach to recovery. One of the tools is comprehensive plans for regional energy resilience and for strengthening the capacity and resilience of communities.

 

 

Comprehensive plans for regional energy resilience envisage the development of a decentralised system that will ensure the functioning of cities for decades to come, regardless of any challenges. This involves protecting critical infrastructure, developing distributed generation, and ensuring uninterrupted heat, water and sewage supply.

 

 

More than 3,000 critical infrastructure sites require enhanced engineering protection, and the cost of such work at the regional level alone exceeds EUR 1.7 billion. Currently, the Government has already allocated more than UAH 20 billion from the state budget, and co-funding from communities and regions is also provided.

Work is ongoing to develop the distributed generation network, ensure 100% backup capacity for water utilities, and introduce modular solutions for heat supply. In total, the implementation of regional energy resilience plans requires over EUR 5.4 billion in investment.

 

 

The panellists included Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy of the Republic of Poland; Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, Mayor of Gdańsk; Olena Shuliak, Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee; Édouard Philippe, Mayor of Le Havre; Andrii Sadovyi, Mayor of Lviv; Mona Neubaur, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, Industry, Environmental Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia; and Tetiana Yehorova-Lutsenko, Head of the Kharkiv Regional Council.

 

 

Based on the results of the panel discussions, the Summit participants agreed on the next steps to strengthen interregional partnerships, attract foreign direct investment to communities, and coordinate efforts in the run-up to the next Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2026).