At an expanded meeting of the Presidium of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President, a fast recovery plan was presented – a plan for restoring Ukraine from the consequences of Russia's full-scale war against our state, the press service of the President's Office reported on Thursday.

As Head of the Office Andriy Yermak emphasized at the meeting, the most important thing today is to determine how to effectively take care of Ukrainian citizens who suffer from Russian aggression.

"Russia is deliberately shelling peaceful cities, destroying locations where there are no military facilities. Therefore, we need to achieve the 'Phoenix effect' – to restore and improve what was destroyed and burned, quickly and without delay," he said.

The Head of the President's Office is convinced that the case of the reconstruction of Ukraine should become a success story for entire Europe. "Ukraine should become a benchmark for recovery and an example for future generations. Ukraine will be a huge construction and investment platform that can give a boost to the development of European economies," Yermak said.

The head of the President's Office noted that most of the Fast Recovery plan can be implemented after the war, but there is a necessary minimum that must be implemented now.

As Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal noted, the recovery plan for Ukraine has two key dimensions. According to the first dimension, the reconstruction of the country and the reforms should take place in accordance with the best rules and practices of the EU, because the goal of our state is membership in the European Union. The second dimension involves the regional principle, when foreign partners take patronage over different regions of the country, finance and directly participate in the preparation and implementation of reconstruction projects.

According to Deputy Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko, today the total amount for the implementation of the Fast Recovery plan is $17 billion. It involves the restoration of 100% of the housing stock in the de-occupied territories, as well as parts of schools, kindergartens, hospitals and housing and utility services (more than 38,000 objects in total).

"It is this number that regional administrations and local councils have identified as critically necessary for reconstruction, so that Ukrainians can return home to the de-occupied territories," he said.

Deputy Head of the President's Office Andriy Sybiha emphasized that an active discussion on the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine began at the international level, in particular during the recent conference in Lugano.

According to him, the patronage of foreign states over certain regions and cities should become an important tool for recovery.

For example, Bulgaria expressed willingness to help in the recovery of one of the southern regions of Ukraine, the United Kingdom is ready to join the reconstruction of Kyiv and the region, Greece - the reconstruction of Odesa, Spain - certain areas of the capital, Italy and Albania - the reconstruction of Irpin, the Netherlands - Kherson region, Poland - Kharkiv region, the Czech Republic - Dnipropetrovsk region, France - Chernihiv region and some cities of Kyiv region.

In addition, Azerbaijan and Morocco are considering the possibility of participating in the restoration of certain facilities in Irpin and Odesa, Turkey - in the reconstruction of Kharkiv.