December 23, 2015, in Poltava city, PLEDDG Project signed Memoranda of Cooperation (MOC) with Poltava Oblast State Administration and Poltava oblast council. Memoranda were also signed with 4 partner cities of the Project in that oblast, namely Poltava, Kremenchuk, Komsomolsk, and Myrhorod.
The festive signing of memoranda took place in the building Poltava Oblast State Administration during the roundtable discussion on a topic “PLEDDG Project implementation” and under participation of the Head of Poltava Oblast State Administration V. Golovko, Head of Poltava oblast council O. Bilenkyi, mayor of Poltava city O. Mamai, mayor of Kremenchuk city V. Maletskyi, mayor of Komsomolsk city D. Bykov, and mayor of Myrhorod city S. Solomakha. On the side of PLEDDG Project and Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the memoranda were signed by Project Director Oleksandr Kucherenko.
Mr. Kucherenko congratulated Poltava oblast with the beginning of cooperation.
The first stage of the Project implementation is development of the new strategies of the cities according to which they will work within next years. It will be different for every city
Telling about purposes and spheres of such cooperation, Kucherenko stressed that in the course of the Project implementation much attention is paid to environmental balance and gender equality. The emphasis will be made on the problems of economic employment and implementation of specific practices of women-entrepreneurs.
Valerii Golovko, Head of Poltava Oblast State Administration, said that partnership with PLEDDG is really a historical event for Poltava region.
The Project of cities’ development support is vitally important for the whole Ukraine and Poltava region in particular because reforms are implemented on the level of municipal cities. Nowadays, this is power decentralization, democratization of the local power, support and development of small and medium business
According to the Senior Governance Advisor Kadie Ward, Ukrainian cities are ready to learn advanced foreign experience.
Though, we also realize that the Canadian practice is not always suitable for the Ukrainian cities, we will attract different experts from Canada, Poland, and Ukraine to work and cooperation,” informed Ms. Ward and stressed three spheres of the cities’ development where PLEDDG Project was implemented, “These are democratic governance, economic development, and intergovernmental cooperation. Thus, we have a comprehensive approach to help improving and strengthening economy in the cities. The Canadian government has invested 20 million dollars. It will continue for six years and will work in 16 Ukrainian cities
According to Sergii Solomakha, mayor of Myrhorod, the city of Myrhorod will obtain at least a new strategy of the city development thanks to PLEDDG Project.
This Project is special because it works on the strategy of the city development. The next year, the strategic plan of the city development expires. That is why we are looking for the elaboration of the new strategy jointly with PLEDDG Project experts. We do not reject help of international organizations in any sphere. In a new strategy of Myrhorod development, we are going to solve the problems of decentralization, energy saving, and new challenges of the society