All regional, international, and local partners, including Zhytomyr, attended the online meeting. Since 2018, the Zhytomyr community has collaborated with EUACI.

Denys Maliuska, the minister of justice of Ukraine, and Ole Egberg Mikkelsen, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark to Ukraine, chaired the meeting.

EUACI Head Allan Pugh Christensen highlighted the impressive efforts of the program partners and their staff and their dedication to anti-corruption work despite the extremely challenging circumstances of wartime.

The following anti-corruption initiatives are still being carried out in Zhytomyr:

• creation of an electronic reception desk. This tool is designed to facilitate communication processes between the authorities and citizens;
• the assessment of integrity in public utilities enterprises “Hospital No. 1” and “Automobile Roads Administration” is ongoing;
• new modules for the city geoportal. For Zhytomyr, EUACI will create two more modules that address the challenges of hygienic city cleaning and accounting for green spaces.

‘Our partners’ support is crucial to us. I want to express my gratitude to the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative in particular for providing the Zhytomyr community with much-needed help during the initial stages of the russian federation’s full-scale invasion.

The Zhytomyr City Council will do its best to create an infrastructure of integrity while Ukraine fights on’, Mayor Serhiy Sukhomlyn said at the online meeting.

Four strategic directions were approved at the steering committee meeting for EUACI’s further work.

Program:

• contributes to ensuring the transparency, accountability, and openness of upcoming national and local reconstruction efforts;
• will support Ukraine in its process of integration into the EU by assisting in the fields of combating corruption, upcoming reforms, and improving the legislation;
• will assist in the asset search and recovery;
• will assist its partners in enhancing their resilience, especially by boosting their capacity and providing emergency aid.