The Mayor of Kharkiv and Chairman of the Association of Frontline Cities and Communities (AFCC), Ihor Terekhov, announced that during a meeting with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday, he discussed a range of issues concerning frontline territories, nationwide wartime economic growth, and post-war recovery.
"We spoke about the situation in Kharkiv, in the frontline territories, and in the country as a whole – about the agenda of programs and initiatives needed for Ukraine's resilience and future development," Terekhov said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency, describing the conversation with Zelenskyy as "very specific and substantive."
The AFCC chairman stated that they discussed the importance of incentives for industrial development. "At the same time, mechanical engineering and the defense industry must be among the top priorities. This will provide new jobs with decent wages, budget revenues, and stable exports of high-value-added products," Terekhov said.
The Mayor of Kharkiv also noted that he discussed a broad state program for the construction of affordable housing with the president, calling it "a proven recipe in many countries for accelerating post-war or post-crisis recovery."
Additionally, the parties discussed the need for rapid energy sector development and a restructuring of its model to stimulate industry and construction. "The focus is on renewable sources, distributed generation, and the development of modern power transmission networks to reduce energy losses," Terekhov explained.
"We also spoke about the fact that we need to search for ideas and solutions to ensure recovery right now – implementing effective anti-crisis and stabilization solutions while simultaneously thinking about what strategy can put the country on the track to reconstruction. After all, when the long-awaited peace comes, everything will need to be done precisely and quickly. Stagnation cannot be allowed either now or, even more so, after the war. Slow economic growth rates, piecemeal investments, weak job dynamics, frozen social expenditures, and low income growth rates for citizens are a trap for both the economy and society," he said, adding that having a strategy is effectively the only way to avoid this.
"In turn, economic development will provide incentives for an active social policy and the fight against poverty. Assisting people and creating a welfare society is, in my view, an unconditional priority. After all, well-being is the main condition for people to return to Ukraine, for families to be started, and for children to be born. People are our priority. That is essentially what we mostly spoke about with the president," Terekhov said.
The full text of the interview will be published on the Interfax-Ukraine agency's website on Tuesday.
