A delegation from Greifswald, headed by Mayor Stefan Fassbinder, paid a two-day official working visit to Drohobych.
The purpose of the visit is to provide friendly support to Drohobych, monitor the needs in education and healthcare, as well as IDPs and their support in the community.
Since friendly and partnership relations between the two cities were established back in 2017, and a cooperation agreement was signed between Drohobych and Greifswald in 2019, the German city has been actively supporting Drohobych in various areas over the years. In particular, in the field of medicine, education, and utilities, especially in the issue of blackouts.
On 30 May, the German delegation summed up the results of the visit with Drohobych Mayor Taras Kuchma, Deputy Mayor Yuriy Kushlyk, City Council member Andriy Luchkiv, and Serhiy Zadvornykh, manager of the Drohobych City Institute, which oversees cooperation with Germany.
First of all, the head of the hromada thanked his German colleagues for the visit of friendship and support, as well as systematic assistance in various spheres of the city’s life. In times of war, this is very valuable and timely.
We have many challenges due to the war, including providing housing for IDPs on the waiting list, the issue of migration abroad, as we want as many local residents as possible not to leave their hometown, the issue of internships for our specialists in Greifswald, improving the educational sector and establishing partnerships between educational institutions of our two cities, energy independence and many others. We sincerely thank you for the care and assistance that we have received from you over the years and express our hope for further fruitful cooperation and joint implementation of interesting projects,” said Taras Kuchma, Mayor of Drohobych.
As part of the two-day visit, the German delegation visited Drohobych’s educational institutions, to which aid in the form of tablets and multimedia boards had been sent in the past, as well as medical facilities in Drohobych and Stebnyk, further cooperation in these important areas for the city of Kotermak was outlined at a roundtable discussion. A visit was also made to the newly built houses where IDPs live.
According to the mayor of Drohobych, the city has hosted more than 20,000 displaced people since the first days of the war, and today more than 8,000 IDPs remain in the community. Many people have been provided with housing, but a large number are still on the housing waiting list. Therefore, Drohobych is interested in the experience of building block-type houses, as is done in Germany.
Another issue was education and the improvement of shelters in schools. Schoolchildren spend a lot of time in shelters because of frequent sirens. Therefore, there is a healthy desire to improve the conditions for students in school shelters, as well as to provide children with the necessary equipment to spend useful leisure time there.
The issue of internships for Drohobych employees in various fields in Greifswald, energy independence and thermal modernisation of the city’s facilities is also relevant,” said the head of the hromada. The city of Kotermak is also interested in the experience in the communal sphere, especially in the issue of waste water management.
The German partners emphasised that they themselves learn from their mistakes, but they have many achievements in various areas of the city’s life, and are ready to share them with Drohobych.
Mayor Stefan Fassbinder expressed the opinion that their city is ready to invite many Drohobych residents from various fields for an internship. After all, new knowledge can’t hurt anyone.
Thank you for your warm welcome and for allowing us to explore your city from different angles. We highly appreciate that the aid we once sent to Drohobych in the medical and educational sectors is being used for its intended purpose and is beneficial. Your success in building housing for IDPs is also impressive. You have opened two houses for displaced people in Drohobych and Stebnyk. And you are building new housing. This is also relevant for us, because many Ukrainians migrated to Germany because of the war. Therefore, we have many common points of contact and joint work ahead,” emphasised Mayor Stefan Fassbinder.