Distinguished colleagues! Fellow Ukrainians!

We continue the practice of offsite Government meetings in the frontline regions. Today, we are holding the sixth such meeting in Mykolaiv region.

Our goal is to provide clear answers to the challenges facing the region and communities.

Government is keeping all issues that arise in the regions under control and allocating the necessary resources to resolve them. Thus, in 2024, more than UAH 3.2 billion was allocated to Mykolaiv region to restore and maintain critical, educational and medical infrastructure and to build defensive borders.

The region received UAH 567 million for the construction of fortifications. The work is now 100% complete and the facilities have been transferred onto the balance of the regional military administration.

Now we need to approve the procedure and cost of maintaining the fortifications. The Ministry of Defence was previously instructed to draft a Government resolution. I emphasise its implementation should be mandatory and urgent.

Another aspect of security is the development of military education. The Government, in particular, seeks to create an extensive network of military lyceums.

Each region should have at least one such institution. Among other things, we are initiating the establishment of a military lyceum in Mykolaiv region. We give a commission to the Ministry of Defence to consider the possibility of establishing the institution on the basis of the Horokhiv branch of the Nadbuzky Professional Agricultural Lyceum. The region has the pedagogical staff to operate such an institution and there is a demand from boys and girls for high-quality patriotic education. Therefore, we will work in this direction.

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The most important challenge in Mykolaiv is access to potable water for residents. russian terrorists destroyed the Dnipro-Mykolaiv water pipeline and then blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station's dam. In this way, they wanted to make our southern regions uninhabitable.

A technical solution was found for Mykolaiv - water supply from the Ingulets River. This year, the Government has allocated a total of UAH 384 million to finance the stable supply of technical water to Mykolaiv via this route.

Meanwhile, the long-term solution to this problem lies in the construction of a water intake from the Southern Bug River and a main water supply pipeline to the regional centre.

The relevant programme has been approved. There is an order from the President. The estimated cost of the project is about UAH 8.8 billion. Now we instruct the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development to identify sources of funding and start work on the ‘Design and Build’ principle with funds from the Fund for Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression.

The preliminary agreements have already been reached with partners, including the European Investment Bank, to attract donor funds for the project. Hence, we count on the fast realization of it.

There is also an urgent need to upgrade Mykolaiv's internal water supply system. Denmark is actively helping in this area by working with the city to upgrade the water supply in one of the city's districts.

I am sincerely grateful to our Danish and other partners for their successful patronage of Mykolaiv region.

International assistance to the region has already reached more than EUR 300 million. In particular, Denmark has recently allocated EUR 44 million to rebuild critical infrastructure in the region.

This solidarity should serve as an example for others. So I would like to once again call on countries, regions and international organisations to join in the rebuilding of Ukrainian cities and communities. This will be an effective contribution to our common European future.

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The third challenge for Mykolaiv region is preparing for winter.

Last night, the enemy launched another massive attack on the Ukrainian energy sector, using drones and missiles. In particular, three power transmission facilities were attacked, one of them in Mykolaiv region.

However, the russian terrorists did not achieve their goals - Ukraine's energy system is operating in a balanced mode, and no power outages are planned.

We, in turn, continue to repair and enhance the protection of energy facilities, including high-voltage substations. Today we had the opportunity to observe the progress of work at one of them.

We are also building a distributed generation system. We are currently installing two cogeneration units with a capacity of 1.5 MW each in Mykolaiv. This will provide heat to more than 200 apartment buildings, 5 medical and 24 educational institutions.

In total, by the new heating season, Mykolaivoblteploenergo has committed to build 5 distributed generation facilities based on gas-piston cogeneration units with a total capacity of 5.5 MW.

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The fourth challenge for the region is the preservation and development of the agricultural sector.

Despite the tough wartime conditions, farmers in Mykolaiv region have produced more agricultural products over 7 months of this year than last year.

Farmers of the region successfully use state support programmes. Since the beginning of the year, they have received UAH 1.4 billion in soft loans and more than UAH 250 million under other programmes. Of these, more than UAH 19 million are compensations for the purchase of domestic agricultural machinery.

We intensify mine clearance in the region. 133,600 hectares of agricultural land have already been surveyed. Almost half of the 30,000 hectares to be demined have been cleared.

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The fifth challenge is to provide quality educational and medical services.

We systematically transfer students to the full-time education format and create safe conditions for them. More than 70% of schools in the region have started the educational process offline or in a mixed format.

The Government has directed more than UAH 550 million to the region for the construction of school shelters and another UAH 43 million for the purchase of school buses.

133 medical facilities in the region have been fully or partially restored. We are strengthening their autonomy by providing them with generators and artesian wells.

Today we endorse decisions to help Ukrainian schools affected by the war.

350 institutions will receive UAH 290,500 each from UNICEF to modernise canteens, prepare for the winter, and repair engineering networks.

We also allocate a state subvention of UAH 56,900,000 for shelters for schools in Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Kyiv regions.

We also reallocate funds for the needs of healthcare sector. More than UAH 120,000,000 will be directed to repair hospitals and install autonomous water supply systems.

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A few more words about today's important Government's decisions.

We are adopting a package of resolutions to reform the state reserve system.

A new respective law has been adopted, which provides for a fundamental change in approaches in this area. Changes are based on the principles of controllability, transparency and efficiency.

The concepts of state material and state mobilisation reserves are distinguished, institutions of reservation and accountable storage are introduced, and a single register of state reserves is created.

Today, the Government is liquidating the old State Reserve Agency and creating a new State Agency for the Management of Reserves of Ukraine with clearly defined powers.

The work of this institution will be coordinated by the First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy.

We also change the nomenclature of state reserves and the norms of their accumulation, including the level of irreducible reserves.

In addition, we are to approve the procedure for maintaining the Unified State Reserve Register. This tool will strengthen control and accountability.

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Two more decisions that will make us more resilient.

First, we attract up to USD 100 million from the Export-Import Bank of Korea to strengthen Ukrainian healthcare.

Second, we raise up to CAD 400 million from Canada to cover priority budget expenditures.

I am grateful to our partners for their steadfast solidarity and support for Ukraine!

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And finally, with regard to improving defence capabilities, which is our ultimate priority.

Ukraine has a constant need for weapons and military equipment. But today, due to legislative restrictions, we cannot finance long-term military contracts from the state budget. We have to fix this situation.

Therefore, I instruct the Ministry of Economy, together with the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Strategic Industries, to develop appropriate legislative changes to include the financing of the production of weapons and military equipment in the protected budget items.

In particular, those items provided for in the Weapons of Victory programme.

This may be a particular percentage of the total expenditure on arms procurement, but manufacturers should be aware that long-term (3, 5, 10-year) contracts with the state for the production of the necessary weapons are stable and financially guaranteed.

This will help businesses to develop this area on a more active basis, while the state will receive new weapons in a timely and regular manner

I would also like to thank everyone who protects, rebuilds, trains, rescues, treats, and ensures the operation of Ukraine's critical infrastructure.

Thank you for your attention! Glory to Ukraine!