The Ukraine-Ukrinform Media Center hosted a presentation of educational programs for training a personnel reserve for the reintegration of Crimea, namely “Post-conflict governance” and “Governance in post-war territories,” which will begin this year at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (https://cutt.ly/u6zJdCN). The programs are designed for both civil servants and anyone who would like to work in the de-occupied territories.

The presentation was attended by: Permanent Representative Tamila Tasheva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk, Head of the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service Natalia Alushyna and Rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Volodymyr Bugrov.

Mr. Kuleba joined the event online: “The people who will work in Crimea after de-occupation will be drivers and leaders of public opinion. Therefore, we need to prepare them now. I am grateful to Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ms. Alushyna and the National Agency, Ms. Vereshchuk and Ms. Tasheva for understanding and clearly following the President’s task to return Crimea as soon as possible despite all the information accusations. Thank you all for working on how Crimea will be restored.”

Tamila Tasheva thanked her colleagues and spoke about the participation of the Mission in the development of these educational programs: “The de-occupied territory will require a lot of resources. We have such productive work in interagency coordination and cooperation – 36 experts have developed the first reintegration steps, in particular, these developments relate to the restoration of public authorities. The restoration staff needs to be formed before de-occupation, but this is not the only thing we need to do.”

The Permanent Representative emphasized that the “ProCrimea” course was important for the formation of the personnel reserve, but it is an additional qualification, and it is necessary to have academic programs that take into account the context of long-term occupation.

Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk noted that after the full-scale invasion began, Ukraine’s strategy changed, and now our country is considering and has the ability to use the armed option of de-occupation: “Our government agencies must be in synergy, because the issues of the occupied Crimea and Donbas are very sensitive. This is especially true of the personnel reserve. We have no right to make a mistake – we must use every chance to ensure that war never returns to our land.”

The Minister of Reintegration spoke about the development of a resolution on personnel to work in the de-occupied territories. Nataliia Aliushyna, Head of the National Agency, noted that in April 2022, during a survey among civil servants, there was already a great demand for the restoration of the de-occupied territories and transitional justice.

Volodymyr Bugrov, Rector of the Kyiv National University, told more about the current educational programs, their purpose and features. He emphasized that Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv began this path back in 2014, after the occupation of Crimea began: the university accepted more than 600 Crimean students, then began to recognize the knowledge and qualifications gained during the occupation, and later even launched a program in Crimean Tatar language and literature.

“Yes, about 50 thousand specialists will be needed to work in Crimea after its de-occupation. This is a scary, big number. But our task is to have as many trained people as possible, from whom we can then choose the most qualified. It is better to have more than to lack them,” said Mr. Bugrov.