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Polish business is ready to engage more systematically in the process of post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, as well as in solving urgent issues of transport, housing infrastructure, etc. The Polish side seeks to develop cooperation between mayors of Ukrainian and Polish cities, as well as between business communities.
This was emphasized by the representatives of the official delegation of Gdansk during the meeting with the President of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Anatolii Kinakh in Kyiv.
Headed by the Deputy Mayor of Gdańsk Piotr Grzelak, the delegation includes representatives of the municipality and business of the region.
The main purpose of their visit to Ukraine was the transfer of a slurry tanker to the ocal authorities of Borodianka. The funds for this were raised by both residents of Gdańsk and the Voivodeship Water Supply Company.
"We want to study the real needs of communities in Ukraine for assistance and reconstruction. Within the framework of this visit we have meetings with the head of Kyiv V. Klitschko, mayors of Lutsk and Rivne. But we want to cooperate not only at the level of city administrations, but also at the level of business, therefore, we will be happy to establish constant communication with ULIE," Mr. Grzeliak said.
The President of ULIE informed his counterparts that the business union has a number of partners in Poland - Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, Employers of Poland, Leviatan organization, etc. It would be appropriate to develop joint projects with communities at the local level. Moreover, Gdansk is a large city and port in Poland, through which Ukrainian exports can expand their geography.
ULIE has already held a presentation of the port's capabilities for Ukrainian business representatives.
"We will be glad to have communications not only in the direction of transport logistics, but also projects in Ukraine," Anatolii Kinakh said.
One of them may be a project to build a town for 125 internally displaced families in Kyiv region, the concept of which is being developed by ULIE together with experts and the regional state administration. A Lithuanian company is ready to perform the works, but additional funds are needed.
"We will be glad to receive feedback on such a project from our Polish colleagues, advice on the possibilities of attracting EU grant funds for these purposes," said Serhiy Prokhorov, First Vice President of the ULIE.
The parties agreed to hold an online presentation of this project.
Another area of cooperation may be the study of the construction of waste processing plants in Kyiv and other cities.
Head of the Gdańsk Foundation Jacek Bendykowski assured that Polish business is ready and interested in this.
The meeting was also attended by Krystyna Pastushchenko, Smart City Development Director of the Association of Small Cities of Ukraine, who said that the Association had created an online platform for communication between mayors of small cities. Requests from hromadas are placed there and targeted humanitarian and other support can be directed exactly where it is needed.
Following the meeting, the parties signed the Declaration of Cooperation.
"Expressing our admiration and respect for the heroism of the defenders of Ukraine, we declare our readiness to actively work together to restore the destroyed infrastructure of Ukraine
... Therefore, we declare even closer cooperation in rebuilding the key infrastructure of Ukrainian cities and in providing the assistance necessary to overcome the crises, as well as to ensure that all temporarily displaced persons, both in Ukrainian and Polish cities, survive the war with dignity," the document reads.