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Reconstruction in Ukraine starts now!

Right now, while the war is still going on, streets, bridges, power stations, sewage facilities, schools, hospitals and homes are being brought back online. The process is as wide-ranging as it is varied. The World Bank estimates $450 billion is being invested – and not just in infrastructure. Managing this process makes investing in human resources and wide-ranging reforms absolutely essential. By continuing the process of decentralisation, improving the rule of law, and fighting corruption, Ukraine has a unique opportunity to align reconstruction with the requirements of becoming a member of the EU. And city-to-city partnerships can play an important role in this.

A blue and yellow flag bearing the words “I stand with Ukraine” flies outside the Kongresshalle am Zoo conference centre in Leipzig.
There’s tremendous goodwill to help rebuild Ukraine, as was evident at the Partnership Conference in Leipzig. Photo: Nicky Hellfritzsch

War still rages unabated in Eastern and Southeastern Ukraine. Over 10,000 civilians have been killed and although the number of Ukrainian troops killed has not been disclosed, it is likely to be many times higher. People are dying every day on the front line. As of October 2023, there are still some 5 million internally displaced persons in the centre and western parts of the countries, and a further 5.8 million have sought refugees elsewhere in Europe. The war has driven around a quarter of Ukraine’s population from their ancestral homes.

The population of the eastern part of the country near the front line continue to receive emergency aid to meet their basic needs, and destroyed infrastructure is repaired. However, in many other parts of the country the transition from emergency aid to reconstruction is apparent.

Just as the Marshall Plan was drawn up before the end of the Second World War so as to waste no time putting it into action once the war was over, stakeholders on all levels are already working hard to develop strategies to rebuild Ukraine. These range from civil society organisations, university partnerships, solidarity partnerships between municipal companies and city-to-city partnerships, to national governments and international organisations, particularly with regard to Ukraine possibly joining the EU.

Around 550 representatives of cities, districts and associations accepted invitations to attend the sixth German-Ukrainian Municipal Partnership Conference in November 2023 to discuss reconstruction strategies, and up to 500 more followed the discussions via live streams.

»Autonomous administration must be built from the bottom up. We need models which function efficiently to allow Ukraine to integrate into Europe.«

Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv and Chair of the association of Ukrainian cities

Municipal partnerships play a key role in maintaining critical infrastructure. Photo: Steffen Köhler

In addition to defending itself, Ukraine faces tasks related to sovereignty and its status as a nation-state, such as repairing and modernising international airports, motorways, bridges and other major infrastructure projects with national impacts.

Much of the work is on a municipal and local level. This is why the focus of reconstruction should shift from central government to the districts, says Oleksandr Markushyn, Mayor of the city of Irpin, 70% of which has been destroyed. Markushyn shares his experience of reconstruction: “We have three principles for rebuilding: firstly, we need to do it quickly; secondly, high quality; thirdly, we must guarantee complete transparency around how we use money. We prepare the project documents but we have nothing to do with the applications or funding: our European partners do all that.”

Cities and municipalities are already doing incredible work to provide municipal services to local people. They are maintaining water and electricity supplies, dealing with waste and sewage, keeping schools open under challenging conditions, providing warm spaces in winter, taking in internally displaced persons and helping them to integrate, looking after the wounded, and providing therapy to people who have suffered trauma. On the one hand this is possible thanks to huge levels of social cohesion and an unbroken will to live in freedom, refusing to be oppressed by Russia’s regime of terror. On the other hand Ukraine’s process of decentralisation is also helping – it was initiated a few weeks after the “Revolution of Dignity” of April 2014. Since then state funding and powers have been comprehensively reallocated to autonomous local administrative bodies, and Ukraine's administrative system has undergone sweeping rearrangements by progressively consolidating small districts into large and more robust territorial districts. These reforms have led to tangible improvements in public services, and stronger local democracy which is now helping bear the current burden.

However, the imposition of martial law brought this process to a standstill. This year the central government approved a reducing tax collected by municipalities in favour of the central government, which is not only a sign of a reversal in this trend, but also a development which has hit small cities in Ukraine particularly hard. Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv and Chair of the association of Ukrainian cities never tires of stressing that reforms to the state must go ahead of major investments in reconstruction. In his view that means strengthening autonomous local administration, promoting the rule of law, reforms to state prosecutors, and fighting corruption.

If implemented, these major reforms would encourage refugees to return to Ukraine, Klitschko says. “Our people abroad are our greatest asset, so it’s vital that they return home. They will return when there’s peace in Ukraine, decent incomes and municipal services on a European level,” observes the Mayor of Kyiv.

Three men stand in front of a lorry with the letters OOWV. An empty truck stands in the background.
The town of Brake sent urgently needed equipment to supply water. Photo: Oldenburgisch-Ostfriesischer Wasserverband

Even before the war, Klitschko had been interested in Kyiv’s partnership with Leipzig and opportunities for members of the public to have a say in investments as a means of promoting transparent spending. “Autonomous administration must be built from the bottom up. We need models which function efficiently to allow Ukraine to integrate into Europe,” says Vitali Klitschko.

Germany possesses a diverse and sophisticated system of decentralised administrative structures. Ukrainian municipalities could draw inspiration from this rich repository and try out elements which are right for them. This is particularly relevant in light of the fact that the number of city and solidarity partnerships between German and Ukrainian cities has risen from 76 when war broke out in February 2022 to 190 in mid-November 2023, and the trend shows no signs of slowing. Counties also form partnerships and support rural areas of Ukraine, many in the form of three-way partnerships with Polish counties.

Cooperation is also thriving among municipal water companies. Before the war there was just one cooperation between the Dresden and Lviv municipal water companies, but in November 2023 there are 16 operator solidarity partnerships. Other German businesses are donating equipment to Ukrainian water facilities. This is another area where there is a clear shift from immediate procurement and replacing damaged infrastructure in the first year of the war, towards medium and long-term planning with a focus on training and technology transfer.

“Mains water systems in Ukraine definitely need replacing, and Germany and German water and sewerage companies can share their experience in this area with Ukraine,” says Dmytro Novytskyi, President of the Ukrvodokanalecologia association. This experience is important not only in terms of legislation but also when it comes to sharing experience, Novytskyi says. “It makes sense to implement the German legal framework in Ukraine because it works well in Germany. Of course you would need to adapt these laws to reality in Ukraine. But sharing experience with German firms is very important right now, because that can ensure the integrity of the reforms.”

»We need to look at new technologies such as smart grids and using cutting-edge processes in water management.«

Ingo Hannemann, Technical Director at Hamburg Wasser

Kyivvodokanal and Hamburg Wasser are working together to develop a micro-model of a water pumping station using the latest technology. It is not only aimed at giving staff practical training, but it also makes it possible to assess the cost-effectiveness of the facilities and test the associated tariff models on a small scale. The goal is to transfer the model to a major facility in Kyiv which supplies drinking water to 80% of the city’s population. “We need to look at new technologies such as smart grids and using cutting-edge processes in water management,” says Ingo Hannemann, Technical Director at Hamburg Wasser and a member of the board at the German Water Partnership.

The Town Hall in Essen is illuminated in blue and yellow.
Expressions of solidarity from Germany such as this one in Essen have a symbolic power which should not be underestimated. Photo: City of Essen

The destruction of many homes and the large number of internally displaced persons in the west of the country has massively driven up the need for affordable housing. So this is another area where experiments are taking place, from cutting-edge ways of recycling waste building material to building with wood in a “building box” principle, and some of these experiments are being run in the context of German-Ukrainian university collaborations.

Conflict and crisis resilience are already part of a new approach to integrated urban planning. Solar power and heating are already being used to run hospitals in order to reduce their dependency on Ukraine’s national grid and save running costs.

The number of hospital partnerships is growing, too. German hospitals are providing support ranging from simple equipment like hospital beds to sharing modern medical technology for operations. They are even helping build simulation centres for external video and audio training on diagnostic and therapeutic processes under realistic conditions. Coordinated by the Charité hospital in Berlin, the SOLOMIYA network started work in the spring of 2022 to provide psychosocial support for people in Ukraine. Since then 34 institutions in Germany and Ukraine have joined the network. The network has distributed medications and medical aid since May 2022, providing care for over 20,000 patients. Medical staff can access online workshops and apps to get help with psychological first aid, looking after staff, burnout prevention, resilience training for healthcare staff, and mental health for mothers.

»When it comes to reconstruction, it's hugely important to set up joint enterprises to promote manufacturing by German companies in Ukraine, and to make it easier for Ukrainian businesses to access the German market.«

Oleksii Makeiev, Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany

The examples show that it is partnerships and networks which work together to develop solutions that are tailored to local conditions, on a high technical level, and efficiently prioritise limited funds. In addition to jointly developing plans and structures, the mutual trust which arises from collaborations is a strong motivating factor and moves these projects forward. Support from Germany and other countries also has a symbolic power which should not be underestimated. People in Ukraine sense they are not being left to fend for themselves and the dream of a “city of tomorrow” fires them to work on rebuilding their country right now.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, calls for the partnerships and networks to be deepened down to an economic level. “For the mayors of Ukrainian districts it’s not just about getting help: it’s about developing, including on the level of businesses. That’s why when it comes to reconstruction, it’s hugely important to set up joint enterprises to promote manufacturing by German companies in Ukraine, and to make it easier for Ukrainian businesses to access the German market. That is the future of these partnerships.”

The photo shows several hands laid on top of one another.
The Freiburg–Lviv municipal partnership is working hand in hand on reconstruction. Photo: City of Freiburg

Ukraine is only just beginning the reconstruction process, and the most important element is a swift end to the war. Ever since war broke out, private donors, cities and counties in Germany, the Federal Development Ministry and other government departments have sent contributions for reconstruction worth hundreds of millions of euros. But the World Bank estimates that reconstruction will take investments of $450 billion, showing the scale of the challenge. So how will spending be prioritised, and which criteria will that be linked to?

»Reconstruction should be energy efficient and environmentally friendly, not just in line with the values of the EU but also the rules of the EU, so as to work hand-in-hand with supporting EU membership.«

Georg Ziegler, Adviser in the European Commission’s Ukraine Service

In this, Ukraine’s desire to join the EU can show the way. “Reconstruction should be in line with EU standards, because Ukraine will need to meet these anyway if it is to become a member,” explains Georg Ziegler, an adviser in the European Commission’s Ukraine Service. “Reconstruction should be energy efficient and environmentally friendly, not just in line with the values of the EU but also the rules of the EU, so as to work hand-in-hand with supporting EU membership,” he says. The European Commission has now shared a proposal for financial aid worth €50 billion, of which a third will be a grant and two-thirds loans. However, this still requires unanimous approval from the member states and majority approval in the European Parliament, which currently looks doubtful. It seems likely that this will be an extended process. In addition to governmental reforms, using these funds efficiently requires expertise on all levels of government, as well as in civil society, academia and business.

Georg Milbradt, Germany’s Special Envoy for Administrative Modernisation in Ukraine is emphatic when he says “Investing in human resources is absolutely vital to prevent administrations from being overwhelmed.” In this, networks and partnerships between cities and their universities, hospitals and businesses can make a crucial contribution to municipal public services.

It will be on a municipal level that the success or failure of reconstruction in Ukraine becomes evident, or, as the Mayor of Leipzig Burkhard Jung sums it up: “You can't make a country without cities.”

Authors: Burkhard Vielhaber in partnership with Emiliya Dieniezhna