From the start of the Polish foreign aid programme, Ukraine has been considered one of its priority countries. Projects to aid Ukraine are carried out by government administration, local government and NGOs, public and non-public higher schools and R&D institutions,
as well as the Polish Embassy in Kiev.

Poland plans to provide Ukraine with foreign aid worth 13.6 million in 2010.

Priority aid sectors:

• institutional development and promotion of good governance, including the building of institutions engaged in the fight against HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, local-government cooperation;
• support of European integration and Euro-Atlantic integration efforts (including support of the justice system, customs and border guard services reform, development of agriculture, specialist training and traineeships);
• support in the development of regulations with respect to land turnover, including the cadastre;
• energy-saving programmes.

POLISH AID PROGRAMME ADDRESSED TO UKRAINE IN 2009 AND EASTERN PARTNERSHIP'S THEMATIC PLATFORMS

In 2009, the Polish foreign aid programme was primarily addressed to four countries covered by the Eastern Partnership Initiative (EaP): Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, with the greatest amount of projects, as many as 75, being carried out in Ukraine.

Fourteen and a half million PLN was made available to those applicants who wanted to support Ukraine. The subject matter of these projects generally overlapped with EaP thematic platforms. Most projects focused on good governance, local government building, the implementation and adaptation of European standards and rural areas development.  Here are some examples of those projects arranged according to their EaP platforms:

 Thematic Platform 1: "Democracy, Good Governance and Stability"

1. Support of independent media through Polish aid projects. An MFA's subsidy made it possible for the Eastern European Democratic Center, which runs long-term programs supporting independent media in post-Communist countries, to carry out a project called "Local Press as an Instrument of Democratization in Ukraine in the Context of EU Standards". This project was a follow-up on two earlier initiatives carried out in 2006 which consisted of organizing training courses for journalists and editors and internships with Polish media organizations. In turn, the Foundation Natolin European Centre carried out
   a project called: "The European Union and Euro-Atlantic Perspective in the Ukrainian Media. Development Barriers and Prospects", with the intention of providing grounds for cooperation between the Ukrainian and Polish media in the scope of European integration by preparing a group of 25 young journalists to cover EU and Euro-Atlantic matters.
   
   
2. Strengthening of Administrative Capabilities and Transparency in Public Management.
   This theme was explored by more than a dozen projects realized in 2009, among which was one called Training and Information Programme for Ukrainian Civil Servants in the Scope of Writing Job Descriptions and Performance Appraisals Including Elements of Remuneration System. Internships for Representatives of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.

Thematic Platform 2: Economic Integration and Convergence with EU Policies

Poland also provided aid to strengthen Ukraine's free market economy in rural areas through a project called: "Local Government and Economic Reforms in Crimean Rural Areas, Using European Standards. The staff of Ukrainian agricultural advisory services attended training courses on how to prepare applications for external funding of projects in rural areas and in areas where wholesale markets and group growers operate. Expertise grained during these training courses will be applied to create an Agricultural and Food Wholesale Market in Krasnohvardiiskyi in Crimea (as part of an EU co-financed programme).

Thematic Platform 3: Energy Security

Three projects were financed in an effort to support economic reform with the aim of implementing energy-saving plans: "Promotion of Energy-Saving Technologies in Ukraine (submitted by the Polish-Ukrainian Cooperation Foundation PAUCI) was a project which organized study visits of energy auditors in Poland and provided training in good practices of energy management at municipal level. The project called "Transfer between Poland and Ukraine of Innovative Energy-Saving Technologies, including Renewable Energy Sources and Eco-Energy Strategy Building" was intended to assist the Ukrainian partner in developing its own energy-saving strategies and in applying technologies using thermal solar collectors and photovoltaic solar panels.

Thematic Platform 4: Interpersonal Contacts

A project to approximate the Ukrainian higher education system to EU standards, called "Supporting the Integration of the Ukrainian Education System with the European Education
Area by Transferring Polish Models of Multi-Direction Education to Ukrainian Higher Education Institutions" implemented the objective of this Thematic Platform. It should play the role of an accelerator of the mobility of young Ukrainians. This project was also a follow-up on measures aimed at stimulating higher education reform and at strengthening the autonomy of universities
in Ukraine.