On July 14, the Government authorized Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna to sign Supplementary Agreement №1 between the Government of Ukraine and the European Commission on Amendments to the Financing Agreement "U-LEAD with Europe: Ukraine - Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development Programme - the second phase."

This Agreement will allow:

∙ increase by EUR 14.1 million the European side's funding for the measures provided for in the Agreement. Therefore, the total value of the Agreement will be EUR 54.1 million;

∙ extend the period of implementation of the Agreement for 1 year until July 8, 2025.

Attracting additional funding will support further decentralization reform at the central and local levels.

"Decentralization is a real success story for Ukraine. European partners also believe that our experience should be taken into account and applied in other countries. Due to this reform, the regions of Ukraine have gained more economic and social opportunities. And the opening of almost 900 administrative service centers has significantly improved service and comfort in receiving public services. We continue to work to ensure that European integration provides as many benefits as possible for every inhabitant of our country," Olha Stefanishyna commented.