During a working trip to the Dnipropetrovsk region, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in the presentation of the Strategy for the development of the region for 2021-2027.
"Although each region is native for me as for the President of Ukraine, the Dnipropetrovsk region is a special place. Here I was born and raised. My youth passed here, my mother and father live here. Here I met my beloved wife and my first child was born here - my daughter. For me, the Dnipropetrovsk region is a place of power. And I am confident that this region can become a place of power for the whole country," the Head of State said during a speech at the presentation of the Strategy.
He noted that each region of Ukraine should have a clear plan of action for the coming years, develop its strengths and overcome weaknesses. That is why a series of presentations of development strategies of Ukrainian regions continues.
"The Dnipropetrovsk region is really unique, it has a great future in many, completely different areas. And it is important that the potential of the region is not only about Dnipro. There are many very powerful cities here: Kryvyi Rih, Kamianske, Nikopol, Pavlohrad and many others," the President said.
Among the strengths of the region, the President named the mining industry, metallurgy, energy, food industry and agriculture. In his opinion, the ecological sphere and infrastructure projects are also promising for development.
"And it's not just about the Dnipro International Airport, where I would very much like to arrive during the next visit. We are also talking about interesting technologies in road construction. You know that the region is a leader in metallurgical production followed by a large amount of waste. They can be stacked in the form of hills damaging the environment, or can be used during the construction of infrastructure, roads. This is both economically and environmentally reasonable. And we will do it," Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed.
Regarding the space industry, the President spoke about his dream that the Dnipropetrovsk region "becomes the space brain and heart not only of Ukraine, but also of the whole of Europe".
"For some reason we forget that we have Pivdenmash, there are incredible specialists who have unique knowledge and experience. The state will always support them and realize this potential to the maximum," the President said.
Head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional state administration Oleksandr Bondarenko, presenting the Strategy of development of the region, noted that the Dnipropetrovsk region gave birth to a lot of entrepreneurs and creative people.
In addition, according to him, 10% of Ukraine's GDP is produced in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
"We are a really powerful industrial center. That is why industrial clusters and parks with high value-added enterprises should be created here,” he said.
The head of the regional state administration said that during today's visit of the President of Ukraine to Pivdenmash, the possibilities of development of the domestic space industry and options for public-private partnership were discussed.
According to Oleksandr Bondarenko, among the regional priorities for the coming years are construction of agro-processing plants, introduction of the latest ecological technologies in metallurgical production, export of goods for the space industry, construction of the international airport in Dnipro, development of river connections and infrastructure, road repair, implementation of projects on the protection from the radiation threat at the Prydniprovsky Chemical Plant, water and air purification and reduction of emissions into the atmosphere.
The head of the regional state administration noted that a project on protection against the radiation threat at the Prydniprovsky Chemical Plant has already been worked out jointly with the EU. There are projects to provide the population with clean water and air purification.
Summing up, Oleksandr Bondarenko named five main projects of the Dnipropetrovsk region: Dnipro airport, Metalurg stadium in Kryvyi Rih, regional philharmonic, Office of European Integration, support for business and international cooperation, as well as an ecopark.
