The Ukrainian city of Khmelnytskyi twinned with the Sheffield, England. The Twinning Agreement was signed during the U.K. Visit of Oleksandr Simchyshyn, Mayor of Khmelnytskyi.

“We signed the Twinning Agreement with Sheffield, one of the largest cities in England with a population of over 500,000. The Agreement provides for continuous cooperation in a number of directions. By the way, the agreement was put to a vote in the City Council and received unanimous approval. In Sheffield, we also had a number of meetings with the business community, the U.K. MPs, the Defence Committee and senior officials of the Chamber of Commerce. We agreed on joint exhibitions, an online business forum and rehabilitation care for our wounded soldiers. Also in Sheffield, together with local authorities and members of the city council, we met with Ukrainians who were forced to flee from the war from various Ukrainian cities and towns. There is a big community here, and we have agreed on cooperation in a number of projects,” Oleksandr Simchyshyn wrote on his social media page.

The mayor of Khmelnytskyi also held a meeting with his Manchester counterpart. They discussed cooperation and support at the level of the two municipalities as well as assistance to Ukrainians temporarily living in Manchester.

In March, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine initiated the International Marathon of Local Governments aimed at drawing the attention of municipalities around the world to the tragedy of Ukrainian municipalities and boosting the process of establishing sisterly relations.

On 16 December, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine presented municipal tools for establishing partnerships with foreign municipalities, “Guidelines on International Municipal Partnership” created jointly by the Ministry, the Council of Europe Programme “Decentralisation and Public Administration Reform in Ukraine” and the electronic platform “Partnership for Restoration and Development” developed in cooperation with the Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralisation for Improved Democratic Education” (DECIDE) and U-LEAD with Europe Programme.

Municipalities can fill out an application for desired cooperation with a specific foreign municipality on the electronic platform by clicking Cooperate.