Japan and Ukraine Deepen Cooperation on Infrastructure and Community Support
Ukraine initiates new joint projects with Japan aimed at restoring critical infrastructure, supplying technical equipment, and strengthening the country’s energy sector.
The Gaze reports on it, referring to the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine.
First Deputy Minister of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine Alona Shkrum is on an official visit to Japan, where she has held more than 10 meetings with representatives of the country's government, agencies, and businesses.
One of the key meetings was with the leadership of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport of Japan and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Ukraine's main partner in the field of reconstruction.
The discussions focused on expanding joint projects and new assistance, including energy equipment.
“Today, 12 Japanese companies are already working in Ukraine — they are rebuilding infrastructure, supplying equipment, and helping our communities,” Shkrum emphasized.
The emergency recovery program, implemented by JICA, covers energy, transport, health care, education, water supply, waste management, and humanitarian demining, and amounts to $700 million.
The Ukrainian side has initiated the expansion of the program to new regions—Sumy, Chernihiv, and Zaporizhzhia—and is requesting additional energy equipment for Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Kyiv.
Shkrum also met with the leadership of the Japan Reconstruction Agency, established after the earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima accident in 2011. The parties agreed on further cooperation and adaptation of the Japanese reconstruction model to Ukrainian realities.
“We want to create our own effective recovery system in Ukraine. Ukraine is also capable of doing this,” Shkrum said.
Earlier, on October 22, in Tokyo, Ukrainian Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture Oleksii Sobolev held a meeting with the leadership of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). The parties discussed attracting Japanese investments, financial instruments, and technologies for the restoration of Ukraine's energy sector, industrial development, and agricultural sector.
The main areas of cooperation include energy; attracting investments through support for reforms in the field of privatization and public-private partnerships; as well as joint financing of agricultural projects.
In addition, the parties discussed financial mechanisms for humanitarian demining of agricultural land, investments in critical minerals (titanium, lithium), and the expansion of military risk insurance programs.
“JBIC is one of our key partners, capable of supporting the recovery of the Ukrainian economy through technology, finance, and investment,” Sobolev said.
The bank confirmed its readiness to support large investment projects in the fields of green energy, industry, and logistics.
As The Gaze reported earlier, the Japanese company Nojima Corporation announced allocation of 200 million yen for the projects of the Olena Zelenska Foundation to support Ukrainian children