On 6 May, the EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarína Mathernová visited Zhytomyr. The city presented the outcomes of its cooperation with the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative in Ukraine under the Integrity Cities partnership.
First Deputy Mayor of Zhytomyr Svitlana Olshanska guided the EU Ambassador through the city’s key achievements in strengthening transparency, accountability, and anti-corruption practices:
- The city council has established an internal audit unit to review the performance of specific city processes and institutions. Two audits have been completed: 81% of recommendations from the first are implemented, all 30 from the second are accepted for implementation.
- The e-Reception hall has been running since 2023 with four new online services launched in 2025–2026.
- Zhytomyr continues to develop its Geoportal, bringing together urban data across multiple domains: real estate, green zones, investment mapping, advertising, etc.
- A pilot project to improve technical supervision procedures at municipal construction sites has been launched.
The Ambassador also visited the renovated school canteen of Lyceum No. 23 named after M. Ocheret, modernised under a state subvention with oversight from the EUACI experts. She had lunch together with Ukrainian pupils, prepared in a modern canteen.
“This school modernisation had an excellent track record according to our integrity experts. The result is what you see: children have access to a renovated, welcoming canteen, constructed with transparency and integrity,” said Dmytro Iakymchuk, EUACI Team Lead of Integrity Cities and Integrity Reconstruction components.
The EU Ambassador appreciated progress in building trust and transparency through the EUACI Integrity Cities’ project.
