Italy invests €63 million to rebuild Odesa region: culture, healthcare and agricultural infrastructure

Odesa Regional Philharmonic. Photo of the institution from the Facebook page

Italy will allocate more than €63 million to implement three large-scale projects in the Odesa region. These include the restoration of cultural heritage sites, healthcare development, and the modernisation of agricultural infrastructure.

This was announced by Aliona Shkrum, First Deputy Minister of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine.

She noted that several ministries and institutions worked on the preparation of the agreements in compliance with EU standards and Ukrainian legislation. The official signing of the agreements is scheduled for Rome.

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«We have been negotiating with Italy for more than four months on projects to restore the Odesa region. And today we are finalising the technical part, preparing to sign three agreements at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 in Rome», Aliona Shkrum wrote.

The first project provides a grant of €27.5 million for the restoration of key historical sites in Odesa: Odesa Philharmonic (the former New Exchange building), Potocki Palace, Abaza Palace, and the Literary Museum. In addition to preserving heritage, the initiative aims to create modern public spaces for tourism development.

The second project is a soft loan of 30 million hryvnias for 20 years. In particular, for the first 10 years, the loan will be interest-free and at 0% per annum. The funds will be used to build a new building of the regional children's hospital in Odesa. It will have 260 beds and eight modern operating theatres, and the project has already been included in the DREAM recovery system.

The third area is agricultural infrastructure, with Italy providing a €6.1 million grant to upgrade irrigation systems in the region.

«At a time when drought and climate change pose huge challenges to the agricultural sector, it is a matter not only of economy but also of food security,» says Aliona Shkrum.

Earlier it was reported that Italy will allocate 45 million euros for the restoration of damaged architectural objects in Odesa. The funds will be used to repair five cultural monuments.