The head of Lviv OVA Maksym Kozytskyi met with the President of the Association of American Congressmen Jim Slattery and the President of the Consulting company “Three R Group Consulting” Michael Zhovnir.
The foreign party expressed its comprehensive support for Ukraine and its readiness to help provide the country and the Lviv region in particular with means and equipment capable of helping people survive the winter.
“The United States of America supports Ukraine in its struggle for its independence and freedom. We are trying in every possible way to help Ukrainians to bring Victory over Russia closer, because you are an example of courage for the whole world. We know that Lviv Oblast today is a region that sheltered almost the largest number of its citizens from other regions. Today, we’re here to find out what your needs are, especially as the cold fall and winter season approaches,” said Jim Slattery.
As of today, almost 250,000 forced migrants officially live in Lviv region, 75,000 of them are children.
“There is a high probability that with the onset of the cold season, the number of evacuations to the west of Ukraine, including the Lviv Region, will increase. Thermal power plants have been completely destroyed in many regions. With this in mind, people will seek shelter and warmth. We are currently working on increasing the number of additional places for the settlement of IDPs, but such places must be equipped with basic necessities: heat, water, gas. There is a need for heaters and electric generators. They can be used both in temporary shelters and for enterprises that ensure the vital activity of the region,” explained the head of the Lviv OVA, Maksym Kozytskyi.
In addition, the meeting discussed the transfer of cars from the United States of America that would serve Ukrainian defenders at the front.
“In the region, there is a wonderful initiative “1000 cars of freedom”, thanks to which our boys and girls at the front receive cars to carry out their tasks. Communicating with them, our military admits that very often these SUVs save their lives. Therefore, we would be happy to cooperate in this regard with the USA and transfer as many American-made pickup trucks as possible to the needs of our army,” noted the deputy chief of Lviv OVA Oleksandr Kulepin.
They also discussed the possibilities of cooperation with the USA in the field of economy. Today, about 200 enterprises have relocated to the Lviv region.
“Lviv region has become a hub for business relocation. Despite the war, business must work and pay taxes. Accordingly, for this we need to revive economic cooperation not only with EU countries, but also to strengthen ties with the USA. For example, to create joint ventures and work on a high-tech product,” added Stepan Kuybida, director of the Department of Economic Policy.
For its part, the American side promised to consider all proposals at the highest level in the near future.