The Verkhovna Rada ratified agreements between the governments of Ukraine and the Italian Republic on investments in Odesa region

On January 15, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ratified two grant agreements with the Italian Republic, which had been signed in Rome at the International Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2025).

This paves the way for Italy to finance two projects that are important for the Odesa region and for Ukraine as a whole, namely:

1. Allocation of EUR 32.5 million for the investment project “Restoration and Preservation of the Cultural Heritage of the Odesa Region.”

The project involves the restoration of six iconic cultural sites in the region that are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List — “Historic Center of Odesa.” Among those are:

• Odesa National Fine Arts Museum (5 Sofiyska Street)
• Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art (9 Pushkinska (Italian) Street)
• Odesa Regional Philharmonic (former stock exchange, 15 Bunina Street)
• Odesa Literary Museum (2 Lanzheronivska Street)
• Administrative building – heritage management and resource center (4 Richelievska Street)
• Administrative building – a monument of local significance (6 Primorska Street)

The main goal of the project is to preserve key cultural sites in Odesa and promote Ukraine's cultural heritage on the international arena.

"The Ministry team has been working on these two grant agreements for the past nine months. Deputy Prime Minister for Ukraine's Restoration Oleksii Kuleba signed them with Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani in Rome at the Ukraine Recovery Conference. We have gone through a multitude of stages — from the first draft to thousands of changes and edits, dozens of approvals, interagency coordination, separate procedures for each partner country, and coordination meetings. I am proud that our large team was successful in structuring and finalizing some of the most complex agreements with Italy. These are the first such agreements with Italy since Ukraine gained independence. Importantly, this is non-repayable grant assistance from Italy," noted First Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine Aliona Shkrum.

2. The agreement aims to restore infrastructure and the agricultural sector, and provides for EUR 6 million in investment in the modernization of irrigation systems in the Odesa region, in particular, the reconstruction of the Tatarbunar and Kiliya irrigation systems.

This is necessary to increase the efficiency of agricultural production in the region, adapt to climate change, and improve the socio-economic development of Odesa region.

The project involves the reconstruction of key elements of irrigation systems, including the modernization of pumping equipment, cleaning of irrigation canals, and the introduction of automated control systems.