Address by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal at the Government session

Distinguished colleagues! Fellow Ukrainians!

We commence a regular session of the Cabinet of Ministers.

Ukraine is experiencing a new wave of cruel and cynical russian terror.

Hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles are targeting homes, schools, hospitals, power plants, museums, churches and other civilian objects every day.

russia is brazenly demonstrating to the entire civilized world its unbridled thirst for killing and continuing the war.

Last night alone, and in Kyiv alone, russians killed 24 people, wounded more than 130 Kyiv residents, and damaged 150 residential buildings.

In total, in the first five months of 2025, twice as many Ukrainian civilians have been killed by russian attacks as in the same period last year. This is a true demonstration of whether russia wants negotiations and peace.

My and our sincere condolences to all those who have lost their loved ones these days.

russia will definitely pay for everything.

In particular, it will have to pay in large sums of money.

For this purpose, an International Compensation Mechanism is being created with three elements: a Loss Register, a Commission for Claims Review, and a Compensation Fund.

The Register is already actively accepting claims from Ukrainians in ten categories. In particular, regarding damage or destruction of residential real estate. I urge all those affected to submit relevant applications through Diia.

We plan to fill the Compensation Fund with russian confiscated assets. From this fund, our citizens who suffered from the aggressor's actions will be eligible to receive compensation.

In addition, the Government is here and now supporting those Ukrainians whose homes were either damaged or destroyed by shelling. The eVidnovlennnia program is operating, and families whose homes have been damaged can receive up to UAH 350,000 to repair an apartment and up to UAH 500,000 to repair a house.

In total, almost 100,000 Ukrainian families have received UAH 9.3 billion in compensation for damaged housing.

More than 19,000 housing certificates have been issued to help Ukrainians buy new homes. And a new type of compensation is being paid for rebuilding on their own land: almost 500 people have already received about UAH 607 million.

The program is a long-term priority for the Government. We will continue to support Ukrainians who need it.

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We continue to restore housing in communities. Today, the Government is allocating UAH 41.5 million from the Fund for the Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression to rebuild an apartment building in Uman. The project will return homes to more than 200 community members.

We are also distributing almost UAH 119 million in subventions to equip schools with modern classrooms and STEM laboratories. These funds will be allocated to 28 communities. In this way, we are modernizing the educational space to meet the needs of the times.

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The comprehensive program “Made in Ukraine” initiated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains a constant priority for the Government. We are in permanent communication with businesses, responding to the proposals of entrepreneurs, and constantly improving the business environment, in particular through deregulation and digitalization.

Today, based on the results of recent meetings with business representatives, we are to pass two important decisions.

The first decision is to create an option for construction customers to submit documents for the start of construction work and for the facility's readiness for operation not only through the Diia web portal but also through a mobile application. This is another step towards removing bureaucratic barriers and speeding up construction processes.

The second decision we are adopting today for business is to simplify the procedure for obtaining a conclusion on the extension of the deadlines for payments for the export and import of certain goods set by the National Bank. In particular, we are abolishing the requirements for submitting an application to the Ministry of Economy.

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We have also made significant progress in Ukraine's sectoral integration into the European Union.

The European Parliament approved the prolongation of the “transport visa-free regime” for Ukraine until the end of 2025. Thus, the Agreement has been extended for the fourth time. Ukrainian carriers will no longer need special permits.

In addition, yesterday the European Commission approved Ukraine's accession to the EU's Roam like at Home policy. This means that Ukrainians will be able to avoid paying roaming charges for phone calls and mobile internet use on the territory of 27 EU states.

We expect that the EU Council will soon approve this decision, and from the beginning of 2026, Ukraine will become part of the single European communications space.

This sets an important precedent - so far, no country outside the EU has joined the Roam like at Home policy.

We consider this to be a high appreciation of our European integration efforts.

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Thank you to everyone who defends Ukraine at the front!

I thank the people who are working for our common European future in the home front.

Together we will survive and rebuild!

Thank you for your attention!

Glory to Ukraine!