The Ministry for Communities and Territories Development hosted a meeting with JASPERS representatives to discuss further steps in providing advisory support from the European Investment Bank (EIB) in implementing the Roadmap for Public Investment Management Reform.

The meeting was attended by Alyona Shkrum, First Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories Development, Maryna Denysiuk, Deputy Minister, as well as Kristina Mikulova, Head of the EIB Office in Ukraine, Luis Hebrero Rodriguez, Head of the EIB/JASPERS Division, and Martin Pospisil, Senior Economist at JASPERS.

The participants discussed a plan of joint work based on the Single Project Pipeline (SPP), which will be prioritised for JASPERS advisory and technical assistance.

JASPERS support will encompass assistance at the national, regional, and local levels in preparing projects – from planning to implementation – in accordance with EU standards, thereby enhancing their chances of securing EU funding.

According to Alyona Shkrum, the Ministry has the largest portfolio of policies and, accordingly, needs to attract resources from international partners to provide not only sectoral support but also expert assistance to those communities and regions that need it most.

“Communities in the frontline regions, such as Kherson, need to strengthen their institutional capacity due to a significant shortage of personnel. We are in a difficult context of war, and with this in mind, projects are being prioritised by sector: infrastructure, transport, district heating, water supply and sewerage, energy efficiency, and social housing construction. Regarding the latter, it is important to conduct an objective assessment of the economic impact on the communities and territories where this infrastructure will be built with the support of partners,” said Alyona Shkrum.

According to Deputy Minister Maryna Denysiuk, the Ministry and the JASPERS team are currently expanding cooperation in line with the new advisory mandate for Ukraine. In particular, this applies to the reform of public investment management.

“Our task is to coordinate projects and set priorities within the framework of the public investment management reform, which the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development is implementing jointly with the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Finance. Cooperation with the EIB and JASPERS in the framework of the reform involves the introduction of new planning tools, development of key procedures and methodologies for the preparation, monitoring and evaluation of public investment projects, which will increase the efficiency of the use of funds. We are grateful to our partners for their contribution to strengthening the capacity of our institutions at both the national and local levels. Our task is to teach communities to prepare more ‘mature’ projects and implement them,” said Maryna Denysiuk.

According to JASPERS representatives, their activities focus on providing technical support to Ukraine in preparing investment projects in accordance with EU requirements and norms. The assistance focuses on two key areas: strategic planning and the development of a detailed methodology for implementing the most efficient and cost-effective recovery projects. Currently, cooperation with the Ministry is focused on developing new logistics routes, supporting the development of transport infrastructure, the energy sector, water supply and sewerage, and public-private partnership projects.

Regarding the EIB’s assistance in implementing investment projects at the local level, Luis Rodriguez noted that these could be pilot projects that could be used as a basis for other communities to prepare and implement their own investment projects.

The partners also stressed the importance of ensuring clear processes for project implementation and monitoring and the use of systematic methods for evaluating results.