Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal took part in an expanded meeting of the Presidium of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine, which discussed the issues of eliminating the consequences of the russian blowing up of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant in Kherson region, the environmental situation, restoration of water supply and infrastructure in the de-occupied part of Kherson region.

The meeting was opened by Andriy Yermak, Chairman of the Presidium of the Congress, Head of the Presidential Office. The meeting was attended by Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, members of the Government, heads of civil-military administrations, representatives of local self-government, and international partners.

The Prime Minister stressed the need to increase assistance to businesses operating or planning to resume their operations in the de-occupied territories.

“We need to create the conditions for people to return. This means not only rebuilding homes, hospitals, schools and kindergartens. We must also provide opportunities to work and earn money, to create businesses and jobs. To this end, the Government is working on business support programmes to stimulate the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in the de-occupied territories,” said Denys Shmyhal.

Participants heard about measures to deal with the consequences of the emergency in Kherson region caused by the blowing up of the Kakhovka HPP dam. According to the Kherson Regional State Administration, applications for assistance from all levels of the budget are being accepted in each affected settlement. As of 28 August, 17,758 applications for state aid (UAH 5,000 per person) have been received. Information on 10,761 cases totalling UAH 61.1 million has been collected. More than 6,900 people received assistance from various sources. In addition, efforts are underway to provide one-off financial assistance to the affected population for lost crops. UAH 212.2 million has been allocated from the State Budget Reserve Fund for this purpose.

The Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development also reported on the status of infrastructure restoration in Kherson region. According to operational information from the Kherson Regional State Administration, as of 28 August, 275 destroyed or damaged facilities have been restored. In addition, more than UAH 459 million has been allocated for priority reconstruction as part of a subvention from the state budget for Kherson region. To date, 14 projects have been approved for a total of UAH 197.7 million.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources reported on the environmental situation and the restoration of water supply to the de-occupied areas of Kherson region. New and restored artesian wells are to be installed. Drilling work has already begun. In total, the Government has allocated UAH 384.5 million for the water supply to Kherson region.

The Head of Government spoke separately on the issue of demining. He stressed the need to intensify work with partners to attract technical and practical assistance, which would speed up the recovery process.