The City of Helsinki has been supporting Ukrainian cities in various ways since the start of the war. Now, Helsinki is establishing a new partnership with Dnipro, with the aim of providing the city with concrete support both during and after the war. The City of Helsinki worked together with the Ukrainian Ambassador Olga Dibrova to find a suitable partner city.
“Ukrainian and Finnish municipalities are powerful actors in our common fight for a peaceful and civilised future. Since the first hours of Russia’s illegal and brutal invasion of Ukraine, the City of Helsinki has been standing strongly and unwaveringly with Ukraine, helping in many different ways. The partnership between Dnipro and Helsinki will unlock numerous cooperation opportunities to rebuild Ukraine,” says Ukrainian Ambassador to Finland Olga Dibrova.
The cooperation between the two cities is now starting, and this week Helsinki is being visited by the Mayor of Dnipro Borys Filatov and his delegation.
“We are endlessly grateful for the sincere wish to help and support our people in this terrible and cruel war. Dnipro is a city that always returns kindness with kindness. Thus, we pledge our great hopes for our future fruitful cooperation between Dnipro and Helsinki and hope that this cooperation will grow into a solid friendship providing benefits for all sides," says Mayor of Dnipro Borys Filatov.
Today on 12 December, Mayors Filatov and Vartiainen signed a cooperation agreement between the two cities at Helsinki City Hall.
“Ukraine and the Ukrainian people need all the help they can get. This partnership with the City of Dnipro is an important step in building and deepening our relations. At the same time, it serves as a strong message of our commitment to broad-ranging cooperation with all Ukrainians,” says Mayor Juhana Vartiainen.
The key themes of the partnership are education, camps for children and young people, city planning, security, preparedness and good governance. Mayor Filatov and his delegation will also be exploring these themes in the City organisation of Helsinki during their visit. In addition to meetings with several experts, the delegation will be visiting the Myllypuro campus of Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and an underground civil defence shelter. The programme for the visit also includes the Ukraine Reconstruction Forum organised by the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), where the City of Dnipro will present their own reconstruction and urban development sites to Finnish companies and other stakeholders.
Dnipro is one of the largest cities in Ukraine
With a population of approximately one million, Dnipro, which is located on the bank of the river Dnieper, is the fourth largest city in Ukraine. The Dnipro region boasts strong technological expertise and several higher education institutions. The city is a former centre of rocket and missile technology and industry, due to which it was a so-called closed city during the Soviet era.
Dnipro is also a significant centre for internally displaced persons in Ukraine, which has also suffered from Russian bombings. For example, the city’s airport has been destroyed and attacks have also been carried out on civilian targets, resulting in casualties.