On December 10-11, the UCORD project team, together with representatives of the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine, visited Vinnytsia to see how the Regional Development Agency of Vinnytsia Oblast works and develops thanks to the institutional support from the project. Also, to plan further activities based on the needs of this region.
Meeting at the office of the Regional Development Agency of Vinnytsia Region
The visit began at the office of the Regional Development Agency of Vinnytsia Oblast, where its team presented its achievements and plans to the guests.
According to Elizaveta Savchuk, Director of the Agency, among the priorities of the RDA is regional development through communication with authorities, based on trust, which is impossible without professionalism. And in order to increase the expertise and professionalism of team members, the agency makes a lot of efforts for their training and development. In addition, the RDA is engaged in supporting communities, small and medium-sized businesses through mentoring, training, consulting and expert assistance. Another priority is promoting the investment climate and international cooperation.
“The experience of RDA Nord-Est and their similarities at the beginning of our journey to our Agency gave us hope that we also can become just as strong, and that we are now moving in the right direction,” emphasized Elizaveta Savchuk.
It is encouraging to see how the RDA office has grown from three to eight employees, which was made possible due to the UCORD project. The new team has many plans and dreams. Among them there is the creation of an entrepreneurship support office based on the RDA and the evolution of an agency development strategy. Many of plans concern communities: the agency seeks to help them revise development strategies in accordance with the updated regional one, create waste management plans, train communities to write quality projects and prepare investment passports. In addition, the RDA plans to pay special attention to working with IDPs and youth, as well as to promote the development of clusters.
VilIndustry Industrial Park and Vinnytsiaoblvodokanal Municipal Enterprise
During the visit, the delegation visited several facilities that have a significant impact on the socio-economic development of the region. Among them is the VinIndustry Industrial Park, the work of which was presented by Andriy Ocheretny, Deputy Mayor of Vinnytsia.
According to him, an important priority of the Vinnytsia City Council is to help businesses, including those relocated from dangerous areas. There are more than four hundred such businesses in Vinnytsia alone, and, as Andriy Ocheretny emphasized, it is important for local authorities that entrepreneurs do not even intend to go abroad, but stay in Ukraine, create jobs here and pay taxes. “And our task is to create the most comfortable conditions for business,” he says.
One of the effective tools for supporting business is industrial parks. There are already four of them in Vinnytsia, and two more are planned to be opened in the near future. The total area of the four parks already in operation is 90 hectares. Thousands of Vinnytsia residents, as well as residents of surrounding communities, work here.
VinIndustry is the fourth industrial park, the creation of which was initiated by the city council. It houses mechanical engineering and pharmaceutical distribution enterprises. The road and communications were laid here with funds from the Vinnytsia Municipal Investment Fund with co-financing from the state program for support and development of industrial park infrastructure. The park is still being filled with enterprises, but after its completion, a total of about 700 people will be able to find work here.
Meeting with the Supervisory Board of the Regional Development Agency of Vinnytsia Region
On the second day of the visit, December 11, a meeting was held with the Supervisory Board of the Vinnytsia Regional Development Agency. The meeting discussed the role of the Agency in the development of the region. Vyacheslav Sokolovyi, Chairman of the Vinnytsia Regional Council, noted
“We understand that the Regional Development Agency, as a strong institution, will ensure a close connection between authorities, communities, science, and international partners, which is necessary for regional development.”
And the deputy head of Vinnytsia OVA, Serhiy Zditovetsky, spoke about his expectations from the Agency
“Now we have fewer opportunities to help our businesses that need it. Therefore, we expect the Regional Development Agency to help us support entrepreneurs in the region in various areas,” he noted.
Yelyzaveta Savchuk, Director of the Vinnytsia Oblast Regional Development Agency, said that during a recent study trip to Romania with the support of the UCORD project, she saw how strong Regional Development Agencies can be if they work hard and strengthen their expertise, and was once again convinced that regional development is impossible without high-quality planning at all levels.
“We are ready to be the platform that will help with high-quality planning both at the regional and local levels. In particular, nine communities have already asked us to help create waste management plans. In early 2025, we will begin this process, involving the consulting and expert support of the UCORD project,” she emphasized.
Simone Troller, Deputy Head of the Cooperation of the Swiss Embassy in Ukraine, emphasized that Switzerland consistently supports important reforms in Ukraine, in particular the successfully implemented decentralization reform, which has given unprecedented opportunities and powers to communities. The regional development reform is no less important. And that is why Switzerland, through the UCORD project, aid to its implementation, contributing to the growth of the capacity of agencies that should become drivers of this reform in the regions.
According to Maryna Bryl, UCORD project leader, the success of the RDA also depends on their meaningful cooperation with the Supervisory Board. She also reminded that the UCORD project has a WASAW direction, which is related to activities in the field of water supply, sanitation and waste management. “We used this trip to Vinnytsia to see the needs of our pilot regions in this sector based on the example of the region and plan our activities accordingly,” she noted.
Lona Postemska, Senior Program Coordinator of the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine, emphasized that the European Union is, first of all, about the unification of regions in countries, and not just the unification of countries. Therefore, for successful European integration, Ukraine needs to strengthen the regional level first of all. UCORD contributes to this by supporting the development of regional policy and strengthening the RDA as an institution. Ilona Postemska also reminded that various projects and programs of international technical assistance are implemented at the regional level, but they often operate separately, without overlapping. The RDA can become the platform that will coordinate all such projects and programs in the region and ensure communication between them and other regional stakeholders.
The Swiss-Ukrainian project “Ukraine’s Cohesion and Regional Development “, UCORD, is implemented with the support of Switzerland via the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, by NIRAS Sweden AB.