Dear colleagues! Fellow Ukrainians!

We are starting a regular meeting of the Government of Ukraine.

First of all, I would like to inform you that today Ukraine has received another tranche of macro-financial assistance from the EU in the amount of EUR 1.5 billion.

We thank our European partners for this decision, which demonstrates Europe’s solidarity with Ukraine.

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Our path to the European Union is unchanged. And an important part of it is the development of fast logistics in the western direction across the border with the EU. Maximum speed, minimum bureaucracy, and convenience of the border area for people and businesses.

We have three key tasks to improve the functioning of our European border.

The first is the development of border infrastructure. In particular, a network of road border crossings. There are currently 21 of them on the border with the EU. Three of them were opened during the full-scale war. We plan to create nine more and modernise thirteen.

We plan to carry out most of the work on the border with Poland. It has been agreed that Ukraine will receive a concessional loan of EUR 160 million from Polish partners to upgrade roads, checkpoints and purchase scanners.

Last week, during the government delegation’s visit to Bucharest, we also agreed with Romania that we will jointly develop access roads and railway infrastructure and work towards simplifying border control.

Romania is a key destination for Ukrainian exports. Therefore, during the talks in Bucharest, we declared that we would strengthen cooperation in ensuring reliable transit. There are agreements on transshipment of Ukrainian products in Romanian sea and river ports and on cooperation in the Danube ports.

The second is joint customs and border control with EU countries. This means that there will be one checkpoint where representatives of both countries will work. This will help us achieve greater integration into the European space, speed up logistics and minimise corruption. We are running a pilot project on the Polish-Ukrainian border. During my visit to Bucharest, Ukraine made a corresponding proposal to Romania.

Our third task is to continue the implementation of the “customs visa-free regime” with the EU countries. This is the exchange of customs information on transit goods in real time. During the ten months of the regime, 15,000 transit declarations have already been issued in both directions. Now we have the task of upgrading customs to new software to meet European standards.

An electronic queue for freight transport is already in operation at sixteen border crossing points. Since mid-December last year, it has been used more than 347,000 times. Currently, 2,600 trucks cross the border every day using this service.

We are successfully testing eCherha for buses at seven border crossing points. The next users will be car drivers. And all this again for the convenience of people and businesses.

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Along with the modernisation of our country, we continue its rapid recovery.

In particular, we are dealing with the consequences of the russian terrorist attack on the Kakhovka HPP. Our goal is to restore water supply to towns in Dnipropetrovsk region and help people who lost their homes and crops due to flooding.

In total, the Government has allocated UAH 4.6 billion for all measures related to the consequences of the HPP blow-up. Almost 32% of these funds have already been spent to finance works and pay compensation.

We have achieved significant results. The first line of the water pipeline on the Inhulets-Kriazheve section has been put into operation. It will supply water to 25% of the population of Kryvyi Rih. The work was completed in record time – within 76 days from the moment the plant was blown up. I am grateful to everyone involved in the project.

I would like to remind you that the Government initially allocated UAH 1.5 billion for the construction of three water supply lines with a total length of over 144 km. Today we are making a decision to allocate an additional UAH 7 billion to continue the work. We are working to ensure that all residents of the affected towns have access to water by winter.

We continue to process applications from residents of Kherson and Mykolaiv regions for compensation for lost crops. So far, more than 340 applications have been submitted and payments of UAH 2.7 million have been approved.

We have allocated almost UAH 565 million to pay UAH 5,000 to each person affected by russia’s blowing up of the Kakhovka HPP. 17,500 people have applied for compensation and UAH 54.6 million has already been paid out. Applications will be accepted until the end of October, so that everyone who needs help has time to apply.

The Government has also allocated another UAH 1.3 billion for the reconstruction of damaged and destroyed housing in the area affected by the russian terrorist attack. People in Mykolaiv and Kherson regions will have the means to repair their homes before winter.

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We are also ensuring that heat tariffs for households remain unchanged in the coming heating season.

Today, the Government is extending the social obligation mechanism in the natural gas market until mid-April 2024. Naftogaz will continue to sell gas to household heat suppliers at a fixed price of UAH 7,400 per thousand cubic metres.

This decision is part of comprehensive measures to prepare for the winter. We are working to ensure that every Ukrainian has light and heat in their homes, and that our critical infrastructure is reliably protected from russian missiles and drones.

We are working in solidarity, promptly and efficiently for the sake of our victory over the enemy and for the welfare of all Ukrainians.

Thank you for your attention! Glory to Ukraine!