Yulia Svyrydenko: Starting in September, all pupils in Ukraine shall receive free hot meals

More than 2 million children in Ukrainian schools already receive free hot meals. Starting in September 2026, the Government will expand this approach to the entire country — approximately 3 million students. This was announced by Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

The Head of Government noted that on International School Meals Day, it is important to remember that this reform supports and strengthens communities at all levels: from children's health to stimulating local production and economic development.

The Prime Minister expressed her gratitude to First Lady Olena Zelenska, thanks to whose leadership, school nutrition reform has been a systematic state policy for five years and continues to be actively implemented.

Yulia Svyrydenko reported that the Government is preparing the necessary infrastructure to continue the changes:

- UAH 1 billion has been allocated in the state budget for further modernization of food facilities.

- A new model of food organization is being developed. To this end, kitchen factories are being created in communities in the Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Lviv, and Sumy regions. They allow for the centralized preparation of thousands of meals every day for community schools.

- Modern culinary hubs are being created at vocational and technical education institutions to train and improve the skills of cooks. Nearly 9,500 cooks have already undergone training and improved their skills, including more than 3,000 over the past year.

“Organizing school meals in the community is a full-fledged business process in which the private sector is actively involved,” emphasized Yulia Svyrydenko.