Government focuses on financial sustainability of communities and infrastructure restoration: Denys Shmyhal

The Government is working to ensure local authorities have the necessary resources and favourable conditions for their operations. This was emphasised by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during a meeting of the Presidium of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine.

According to him, the Government is focusing on three key areas in its work with the regions, the first being the financial sustainability of communities.

“The total resource of local budgets for this year is almost UAH 737 billion, of which UAH 217 billion are transfers from the state budget. In the first quarter of 2025, UAH 39 billion of transfers were allocated to local areas. For frontline communities, the reverse subsidy has been retained,” said Denys Shmyhal, adding that, on the President’s instructions, an additional tool was being developed for communities suffering from active fighting or located in zones of potential combat.

The Head of Government noted that, thanks to this support, local authorities had sufficient resources to maintain infrastructure in good condition and provide basic services to citizens. The second focus, according to the Prime Minister, is restoration, with priority given to housing, education, healthcare, and infrastructure.

According to Denys Shmyhal, more than 800 schools, about 1,000 medical facilities and more than 100,000 residential properties have already been rebuilt across Ukraine. Additionally, a Government experimental project for the comprehensive restoration of five settlements – Borodianka, Trostianets, Tsyrkuny, Posad-Pokrovske, and Yahidne – is ongoing, with an additional UAH 5.2 billion allocated for this purpose.

“This year, we are shifting to a project-based approach to rebuilding, using the DREAM system and selecting projects for a Single Project Pipeline. This will allow us to systematise restoration efforts and maximally involve communities in determining priority projects,” the Prime Minister emphasised. He also noted that the eVidnovlennia (eRestoration) programme remained an effective tool for housing reconstruction.

“More than 87,000 Ukrainian families have repaired their homes thanks to compensation, and 7,600 families have purchased new residences through housing certificates. This week, the first payments under the compensation component for rebuilding private homes on their own land also began,” the Head of Government stated.

Ensuring the uninterrupted operation of critical infrastructure is another area of focus locally, guaranteeing people access to water, electricity, heating, and other essential services. “We successfully completed the third heating season of the full-scale war and are already preparing for the next one. In the energy sector, restoration efforts are ongoing continuously. We are creating a decentralised generation system,” he stressed, adding that 148 cogeneration units and 84 modular boiler houses had been launched, with a combined capacity of around 268 MW. Plans are also in place to install an additional 280 units and over 140 modular boiler houses this year.

“We are keeping our focus on frontline regions, where the enemy is intensely destroying civilian infrastructure. That’s where we will direct the greatest financial resources and technical support,” Denys Shmyhal concluded.