Kim: «The aid of foreign partners has noticeably decreased, the pace has slowed down»

As of February 2024, more than 30% of infrastructure facilities have been restored. Hospitals and bridges were restored the most, and the residential sector the least.

This was reported by the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, in an interview for the «News Factory» YouTube channel, according to NikVesti.

He also added that currently the pace of recovery of the region has decreased, as support from international partners has decreased.

«We are now moving much more slowly. First, aid from foreign partners has noticeably decreased. Because of this, the pace has slowed down, but we have already managed a lot. About 31-34% have now been restored, but this is not proportional. Because we have restored 98-99% of the critical infrastructure there and we have also restored almost all the bridges. We restored a smaller percentage of high-rise buildings and private houses. That is, we restored more hospitals, social facilities, roads and networks. And those objects, which are many — 12 thousand of them — we simply cannot physically restore them all. We will need years to fully recover,» Vitalii Kim.

We will remind you that the Kingdom of Denmark will direct another financial aid of more than 21 million dollars to the reconstruction of the Mykolaiv region.

The beginning of Denmark's cooperation with Mykolaiv

In March 2022, the president of Ukraine, speaking in front of the Danish parliament, called on the country to take «leadership» over Mykolaiv after the end of the full-scale war unleashed by Russia.

At the end of August last year, the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, and the Minister of International Development of Denmark, Flemming Moller Mortensen, signed a memorandum of cooperation. The memorandum envisages joint work on the formation of reconstruction projects and the involvement of investors from various countries in the restoration of Mykolaiv.

In January 2023 , a meeting of representatives of Denmark and Ukraine took place in Mykolaiv regarding the planning of further restoration of the city.

On July 3, the Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark announced a new aid package for the Mykolaiv region.

In September, after a meeting with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the opening of the office of the Danish Embassy in Ukraine in Mykolaiv.

At the beginning of November, Denmark announced a new large-scale aid package for Ukraine for 40.2 million euros. The main emphasis in the aid package is on Mykolaiv and the Mykolaiv region.

Also in November, the Office of Reconstruction and Development of the Mykolaiv Oblast and the Office of Reconstruction and Development of the City of Mykolaiv became operational.

Postwar reconstruction of Mykolaiv

Currently, it is known that about 60% of the aid that Denmark sends to Ukraine goes to Mykolaiv and the Mykolaiv region.

At the annual forum of the publishing house «Legal Practice» Business & Legal Infrastructure Forum, the ambassador of Denmark to Ukraine announced the vision of the post-war reconstruction of Mykolaiv with friendly conditions for pedestrians and bicycle infrastructure.

While in Mykolaiv, the ambassador explained that after the end of the full-scale war, Denmark would help Mykolaiv to restore and modernize its shipbuilding capacity.

In addition, Denmark will rebuild the Lyceum named after Mykola Arkas while preserving its authentic appearance. As of September 2023, Ukrainian architects presented Ole Egberg Mikkelsen with reconstruction options.

Another educational institution that the Danes will rebuild is Admiral Makarov National Shipbuilding University (NUK). The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark to Ukraine Ole Egberg Mikkelsen is sure that this will revive Mykolaiv as a «city of shipbuilding".

The ambassador also supported the idea of creating a Danish quarter or park in Mykolaiv, but today this issue remains at the idea stage.