The Congress gathered in Uzhhorod representatives of national and local authorities, as well as Ukraine’s international partners.
As President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted, the participation of European friends in the work of the Congress demonstrates how closely Ukraine’s domestic issues are linked with the country’s relations with the EU. Joint programs—defense, energy, and budgetary resilience—are working successfully. European institutions also interact directly with local communities.
“In terms of strengthening Ukraine’s energy resilience, EU assistance is hard to overestimate. The European Union is a key donor of the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, which was established in 2022 on the initiative of Ukraine and the European Commission. Thanks to the Fund, Ukrainian enterprises have the opportunity to procure critically needed equipment to restore energy infrastructure and accordingly prepare facilities for operation during the winter season,” wrote Ukraine’s Minister of Energy Svitlana Grynchuk on her Facebook page.
She reported that repairs and restoration are currently proceeding according to schedule. As planned, natural gas continues to be injected into underground storage facilities, essential primary and backup fuel is being accumulated, emergency reserves of equipment and materials are being created, and anti-accident drills are being conducted.
“Knowing the enemy’s cunning, we must be ready for any scenario. Therefore, we are also working to strengthen the engineering and technical protection of our critical infrastructure and continue to develop distributed generation. As Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized today, the government must continue to provide tangible support to communities, including energy modernization programs, development of alternative energy, improved access to networks, and financing. We also have plans to improve incentive mechanisms and state support,” emphasized Svitlana Grynchuk.
