The EU boosts its support towards a greener, resilient and competitive economy for Ukrainian citizens

Today, the European Union (EU) and Ukraine launched the EU4Green Recovery East programme, reinforcing their commitment towards EU integration, green economy and better water management.  

With an EU contribution of €21.3 million over four years (2025-2028) for all Eastern Partnership countries, this programme builds on a decade of EU support, advancing efforts in circular economy, sustainable water management, and environmental data management. 

Strengthening Ukraine’s Circular Economy and Water Resilience

The Russian war of aggression continues causing severe environmental damage in Ukraine, posing immediate risks to citizens' life, health and long-term challenges for ecosystems, economy, and the green transition. The EU4Green Recovery East programme will help addressing this damage by supporting Ukraine’s path towards green recovery and reconstruction based on EU standards; as well as facilitating Ukraine’s integration under Chapter 27 of the EU acquis on environment and climate.

The previous EU funded regional programmes have promoted the development of circular economy in Ukraine by supporting Ukrainian industries initiatives enhancing resource productivity and environmental performance, green innovation, greener products based on the Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production methodology; by assisting the municipalities with industrial waste mapping and advising the government on sustainable public procurement practices. The EU4Green Recovery East offers new opportunities for the Ukrainian government and businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to improve resource efficiency while boosting productivity and creating new jobs.  

The new programme will also continue supporting the efforts on reduction of water pollution, addressing economic aspects of water management, and improvement of cross-border cooperation for shared water resources following up of significant progress of Ukraine in the previous years. In particular, as part of implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive, in 2024 the Government of Ukraine adopted 9 River Basin Management Plans developed with the EU support.  In the area of water quality monitoring, the previous programme facilitated international accreditation of Ukraine’s water quality laboratory as well as assisted in strengthening environmental data collection and accessibility.

A Strong Partnership for a Greener Future

The online kick-off meeting for the new EU4Green Recovery East programme on Wednesday, 12 March, brought together Ukraine’s Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development and other relevant ministries and government agencies, business representatives, civil society, academia, international organisations, the representatives of the European Union and the EU Member States. This meeting is the first step in preparing a work plan to tailor the programme’s activities to Ukraine’s specific needs.

Olha Yukhymchuk, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine for European Integration: “Ukraine's transition to sustainable water management is essential for its post-war recovery and accession to the EU. Although we are still at the beginning of this journey, we have already taken important steps - developing nine river basin management plans in line with the EU Water Framework Directive and promoting important reforms in the areas of resource efficiency and green growth. The EU4Green Recovery East programme is an opportunity to accelerate these efforts by ensuring better management of our natural resources, strengthening resilience to climate change and rebuilding damaged water infrastructure. Implementing the right policies and measures will not only bring Ukraine closer to the EU, but will also create a more resilient economy, healthier ecosystems and new opportunities for businesses and citizens.”

Mr Jocelin Cornet, Head of Section “Reconstruction, energy, infrastructure and environment” of the EU Delegation to Ukraine said: “Russia’s war of aggression is severely affecting Ukraine’s citizens, economy and environment. Ukraine’s green recovery and reconstruction aligned with the EU standards shall pave the way for a more resilient and competitive economy for the benefit of Ukrainian people as well as move Ukraine towards the EU accession. The EU continues strongly supporting Ukraine on this challenging path via different cooperation programmes”.  

Background Information

The EU4Green Recovery East is a regional programme supporting the entire EU’s Eastern Partnership region. With an EU contribution of €21.3 million (2025-2028), it focuses on five key components: (1) promoting a circular economy, (2) ensuring water is managed as a critical resource, (3) advancing legal approximation with EU environmental legislation, (4) strengthening integration into EU-wide environmental cooperation and data exchange, and (5) fostering cross-border environmental cooperation.

The programme is implemented by five partners: Expertise France with the French International Office for Water (OiEau), OECD, UNECE, UNIDO, and the Environment Agency Austria (UBA), as the consortium coordinator.