Representatives of Inhulka municipality (Mykolaiv Region) paid a study visit to the municipality of Pakruojis (Republic of Lithuania) on 05-07 November 2024. The event was organised by the Association of Ukrainian Cities.

The delegation of the Association of Ukrainian Cities was represented by:

Alla Myronova, Mayor of Inhulka Village,

Oksana Lininska, Deputy Mayor of Inhulka

Liudmyla Damentcova, Project Manager at the “Promoting Comprehensive Development of Municipalities through Analytics, Dialogue and International Cooperation”, the Association of Ukrainian Cities

represented the AUC’s delegation.

During a meeting with the mayor, vice-mayors, directors of department and specialists of Pakruojis municipality, Alla Myronova introduced the led municipality. She spoke about the main challenges that have arisen as a result of the military aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine and possible ways to overcome them.

“During the visit, an experience gained in providing quality educational services to the residents of Pakruojis, including pre-school, school and extracurricular education, introducing innovative technologies and new approaches in educational institutions, as well as managing public utilities, water supply, sewage and wastewater treatment systems, establishing heat supply without harming the environment, and providing social housing for people in need, proved to be extremely valuable," admitted Alla Myronova.

Saulius Margis, Mayor of Pakruojis municipality, expressed his support for the people of Ukraine. He provided detailed information about the experience of implementing projects supported by the European Structural Funds, developing the necessary documentation for submitting applications, and expressed his readiness to assist in elaboration of joint projects and obtaining funding for their implementation, for example, to improve the quality of educational services and student safety.

Oksana Lininska noted that it was interesting to get aware of the latest practices implemented in local educational institutions aimed at improving the socialisation of children of all ages, as well as to learn about the experience of creating and operating youth centres.

Virginijus Kacilevičius​, Vice-Mayor of Pakruojis, spoke about the specifics of constructing educational spaces and promising areas of development in the Pakruojis, as well as investment programmes implemented by the municipality. He also provided detailed information on the integration of Ukrainians who were forced to flee the war into the Lithuanian community.

Liudmyla Damentcova underlined that the partnership of Ukrainian and European municipalities is based on equal principles of experience exchange and interaction, which contribute to mutual strengthening and development. In addition, she drew attention to the need to stimulate international inter-municipal cooperation through international technical assistance to implement joint projects.

As a result of the meeting, representatives of Inhulka municipality got aware of the principles of Pakruojis municipality’s work and elaborated a plan of joint actions, among other things:

• improved awareness of the Lithuanian local self-government system;
• deepened their knowledge and skills in project planning and development, with a focus on reconstruction projects for Ukrainian municipalities;
• agreed to work out and submit a memorandum of inter-municipal partnership to the sessions for further signing;
• strengthened partnership and relations between local governments of Ukraine and Lithuania based on the exchange of experience and lessons learnt.

The exchange of experience between Ukrainian and Lithuanian municipalities and the development of partnerships is systematic: 

On 05 September 2024, a bilateral online meeting was held between representatives of Inhulka village municipality and the municipality of Pakruojis.

The visit was organised by the Association of Ukrainian Cities within the framework of the “Promoting Comprehensive Development of Municipalities through Analytics, Dialogue and International Cooperation” Project, implemented with the support of the “U-LEAD with Europe” Programme.

For the Ukrainian version of the article, please visit link.