On the instructions of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak led an extended meeting of the Presidium of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President, devoted to urgent issues of Sumy and Chernihiv regions.
At the beginning of the event, Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Executive Secretary of the Presidium, Oleksiy Kuleba, who moderated the meeting, informed the participants about the results of solving the issues raised at regional meetings of Congress members held in Kherson and Kharkiv regions.
Meetings of Congress members from Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr and Cherkasy regions were also held. Within the framework of the events, a number of issues of these regions were worked out, which have already been summarized in the Office of the President and sent to the government for the provision of relevant instructions.
The new format of presidium meetings involves communication with leaders and residents of territorial communities of the regions. Members of the Presidium, representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers, central executive bodies, the Verkhovna Rada, heads of Ukrainian embassies abroad, heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Ukraine, as well as representatives of Sumy region and Chernihiv region took part in the meeting in person and via video links. A total of 293 participants joined the event, of which 108 are representatives of territorial communities.
"We continue this series of meetings focused on the problems of individual regions. Currently, we have a set of issues on the agenda of two northern regions bordering the aggressor country. Along with the problems typical of other de-occupied territories, our northern stronghold is characterized by special security challenges: a long border with the enemy, regular shelling, sabotage and subversive actions, accompanying humanitarian and socio-economic consequences," Andriy Yermak said.
According to him, after the de-occupation of Sumy region and Chernihiv region last year in April, the local authorities and the government are faced with the task of normalizing life in the communities.
"Safety and quality of services provided to people are absolute priorities. Revitalization of economic activity, reconstruction of infrastructure, and strengthening of state social support are layered on this basis," the head of the President's Office said.
According to Andriy Yermak, today the work of the entire diplomatic team is focused on providing Ukraine with additional air defense equipment for the winter period.
"We have very good specific results, and I think there will be more of them every day. Because the protection of our cities is the priority of the President and our entire team," he said.
The Head of the Office of the President also said that Ukraine's friends and partners gave a clear signal that our country is steadily moving towards EU membership. Thus, a meeting of EU foreign ministers was held in Kyiv for the first time outside the EU. But at the same time, there are high expectations from our state, so the price of mistakes is high now.
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk said that along with the threats associated with the external enemy, the internal challenge – corruption – also causes great damage.
"I sincerely hope that our resources, aimed at the reconstruction of the regions affected by the invaders, will be used as effectively and as intended. And we must clearly demonstrate to all unscrupulous officials that they will receive a fair and inevitable punishment," Ruslan Stefanchuk said, adding that the parliament is ready to consider all proposals for necessary legislative decisions in this area.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, for his part, said that the preparation and successful completion of the heating season, the restoration of people's homes and socially important and critical infrastructure, as well as the support of local businesses are among the priority areas of work of the central and local authorities.
"Russia is preparing the next stage of winter energy terror after the temperature drops significantly. We are, of course, preparing. It is very important that today we have absolutely sufficient gas stocks in storage – 15.5 billion cubic meters. We have more than 1.2 million tonnes of coal, and the Ministry of Energy continues accumulating the necessary energy resources. We are deploying Points of Invincibility. 330 of them were created in Chernihiv region, 541 in Sumy region. It is important to provide access to them, to light, heat, and communication," the head of government said.
According to him, work is underway to make an online map of Points of Invincibility and shelters available in Diia.
As Denys Shmyhal reported, in general, Chernihiv region is 99.5% ready for the heating season, Sumy region is ready by 99.1%. Issues of the operation of the Chernihiv CHPP, works at the Okhtyrka CHPP, as well as the reconstruction of the facilities of the Chernihiv Water Canal remain problematic.
According to the information of Head of the Chernihiv Regional Military Administration Viacheslav Chaus, the Russian aggressor has launched almost 1,300 attacks since the beginning of the year, and in October alone, the enemy fired about 400 shells along the border. The Regional Military Administration creates temporary housing for citizens who leave their homes in the border zone. Since the beginning of the year, about 1,700 people have left there.
Since May 2023, the enemy has shelled settlements in Sumy region 4,120 times, Head of the Regional Military Administration Volodymyr Artiukh said. Civilians are being evacuated from a five-kilometer zone near the state border. More than 5,000 people have already been deported.
The participants of the extended meeting of the Presidium of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President also heard information about the operational situation in the border areas of Sumy and Chernihiv regions.
There was also a meeting of members of the Congress Presidium and heads of communities, who had the opportunity to ask questions and receive meaningful answers in an interactive mode.
The participants of the meeting of the Presidium of the Congress heard reports on the implementation of the decisions made during the previous extended meetings of the Presidium held on August 29 of this year regarding Kherson region and on September 14 regarding Kharkiv region.
Deputy Head of the Office of the President Oleksiy Kuleba said that six of the 18 problematic issues of Kherson region raised during the previous meeting have been resolved, and 11 issues are being processed and under the control of the government. As for Kharkiv region, out of 19 issues raised, 16 are being processed according to the implementation schedule and three issues have been fully resolved.
"The Congress has once again proven its purpose as a platform for professional and candid discussions between the central and regional authorities. The issues raised will undoubtedly be promptly reviewed, and we hope to hear a comprehensive report on the results of the deliberations at the next meeting. It is important because all our efforts are about people and for people," Andriy Yermak concluded.