The House of Europe program has announced an open grant competition, Culture Helps Solidarity, for cultural initiatives that help Ukrainians integrate into European communities and support the reintegration of veterans through culture.
The amount of support is up to €20,000 for a project with one partner and up to €30,000 for a project with two or more partners. Grant funds can cover fees, travel, production, marketing, rent, and operational activities.
Non-profit cultural organizations officially registered in Ukraine and participating countries with experience working with displaced persons or veterans are eligible to participate. In addition to the EU, the list of eligible jurisdictions for partners includes Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and a number of countries in the region, including Serbia, which expands opportunities for Ukrainian organizations to cooperate with partners outside the EU.
Applications will be accepted until March 31, 2026 (2:00 p.m. Kyiv time), and the results of the competition are expected to be announced by the end of May. A total of 15 projects are expected to receive funding, with a deadline for implementation of May 31, 2027. Applications must be submitted online in English. There is no application fee for the competition.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a grant of EUR4.13 million to support Superhumans centers in Dnipro and Odesa, according to the financial institution’s website.
“The need for grant support is related to the extraordinary circumstances of the war and the shortage of specialized rehabilitation services, which forces patients to travel long distances to Lviv or abroad,” the EBRD said in a statement.
It is reported that in mid-2026, the organization plans to launch a medical center in Odesa, designed for 600 new patients per year and to support up to 1,200 people annually with follow-up services. The launch of the center in Odesa should expand access to multidisciplinary rehabilitation care in southern Ukraine.
Currently, Superhumans military trauma centers operate in Lviv and Dnipro: the first was launched in April 2023, the second was opened in June 2025, and together they can accept up to 2,000 patients per year.
Superhumans is a nationwide military trauma center that has specialized in prosthetics, reconstructive surgery, rehabilitation, and psychological support for adults and children affected by war since 2022.
The organization cooperates with the Ukrainian Ministry of Health to update care protocols and improve the qualifications of medical workers, supports state hospitals through international medical missions and training of specialists, including prosthetists, and interacts with the Ministry of Veterans Affairs and the Ministry of Economy in programs to support and reintegrate veterans.
DNIPRO, EBRD, GRANT, ODESA, Superhumans
The European Union may provide Ukraine with a grant to modernize the Shepit-Izvoarele Sucevei border crossing point on the border with Romania as part of the Interreg VI-A NEXT Romania-Ukraine 2021-2027 program, according to the press service of the Recovery Agency. According to the report, the program’s governing body has approved the selection of the BOND – Border Operations and National Development project. The project has been recommended for funding and may receive a grant of up to €690,900, which is 90% of the total project budget.
The Recovery Agency noted that BOND is the next stage of comprehensive work on opening the Shepit-Izvoarele Sucevei border crossing point, provided for by an intergovernmental agreement between Ukraine and Romania. Earlier, as part of the Romania-Ukraine 2014-2020 program, mirror infrastructure projects were implemented on both sides of the border – bridges and access roads were built, and flood protection measures were carried out on a 2 km section on the Ukrainian side and a 3 km section on the Romanian side.
As specified, the BOND project provides for the technical equipment of the checkpoint on both sides of the border, in particular the purchase and installation of specialized equipment for the safe and efficient operation of the checkpoint, as well as the development of a joint cross-border strategy for the development of border areas.
The Interreg NEXT “Romania-Ukraine” program for the period 2021-2027 is aimed at supporting cross-border cooperation and covers the border counties of Romania and the Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, and Odesa regions of Ukraine.
BORDER, CHECKPOINT, EUROPEAN UNION, GRANT, MODERNIZATION, ROMANIA
The Ministry of Economy, Ecology, and Agriculture of Ukraine will resume accepting applications for grants for the development of horticulture, berry growing, viticulture, and greenhouse farming on February 2, 2026. Documents will be submitted through the Diya portal. The total budget for the program in 2026 is $465 million, according to the ministry’s press service.
“We are resuming one of the important programs to support farmers — grants for orchards and greenhouses. This is not short-term assistance, but an investment in the development of the agricultural sector, the creation of jobs in communities, and the improvement of production sustainability. (…) Our goal is to support producers, stimulate the creation of value-added products, and ensure the sustainable development of rural areas, especially in the context of war and post-war recovery,” emphasized Taras Vysotsky, Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture.
The Ministry of Economy specified that grants for orchards will be available for planting and developing plantations ranging from 1 to 25 hectares. The maximum amount of support is up to UAH 10 million per recipient, but no more than UAH 400,000 per hectare. Grants for greenhouses are provided for the construction of modular greenhouses with an area of 0.4 to 2.4 hectares. The size of the grant will depend on the area: 0.4-0.6 hectares – up to UAH 2 million, 0.8-1.2 hectares – up to UAH 3.5 million, 1.6-2.4 hectares – up to UAH 7 million.
For projects in frontline and deoccupied territories, the state may cover up to 80% of the project cost. The project must be implemented on land whose ownership or use rights have been confirmed for at least seven years.
The fleet of electric locomotives of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia is five times larger than the fleet of diesel locomotives, which makes them critically important and necessitates the purchase of electric locomotives, said the company’s CEO Oleksandr Pertsovskyi in a comment to journalists in connection with the purchase of 55 electric locomotives from French manufacturer Alstom.
“The basis of Ukrainian logistics, Ukrainian railways, as well as European railways, is electric traction. It is more efficient, it accounts for 80% of our volume, it is five times more than their fleet, and there is a critical need in this segment,” Pertsovsky emphasized, according to an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent.
According to him, the ratio of electrified and non-electrified networks of Ukrainian Railways is “about 50-50,” but 80% of cargo and passenger traffic passes through electrified sections.
Pertsovsky clarified that the cost of electric traction transportation is 4-5 times lower.
“It is absolutely critical for us to have a reliable fleet of electric locomotives in order to transport our cargo economically,” the head of the UZ board concluded.
It is noted that at the beginning of the project, the possibility of purchasing diesel locomotives was considered, but the international community and Ukraine, as part of it, decided to adhere to the principles of the Paris Declaration, avoiding new capital investments with a high environmental impact.
The chairman of the board acknowledged that in the current conditions, when there are risks of power outages, diesel locomotives are relevant, but for this purpose, the company is urgently restoring the diesel locomotives that it inherited in large numbers.
Separately, Pertsovsky reported that a group of engineers and machinists visited Azerbaijan, where similar locomotives from the French concern Alstom are in operation, to familiarize themselves with their operation and technical features.
As reported, the French company Alstom and Ukraine’s Ukrzaliznytsia signed a contract to supply 55 electric locomotives to Ukraine worth EUR473 million in 2027-2029. The first electric locomotive will arrive in Ukraine in the first quarter of 2027. This will be followed by certification and the necessary tests.
Ukrzaliznytsia emphasized that 37% of the project’s funding is non-repayable grant aid of approximately EUR 173 million from the URTF fund managed by the World Bank, while the rest is a preferential long-term loan from the EBRD for EUR 300 million.
From October 28 to November 17, 2025, grape growers and winemakers in the Odessa region can apply for grants from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine, with financial support from the Italian government.
According to information on the Ministry of Economy website, winegrowers and winemakers registered in the State Agrarian Register (SAR) who cultivate between 0.5 and 20 hectares of vineyards in the Odessa region are eligible to participate in the program.
Selected participants will be able to receive grant support ranging from $10,000 to $25,000. The amount will depend on production volumes and justified needs.
The new FAO program aims to develop Ukraine’s wine sector by expanding access to modern equipment, quality planting material, and technical support, as well as introducing market-oriented approaches that will ensure the sustainable development of small producers.
According to Shakhnoza Muminova, head of the FAO Office in Ukraine, quoted in the ministry’s publication, the initiative is a step in the long-term cooperation with the Ukrainian government to strengthen the rural economy and restore value chains in the agri-food sector.
The program also provides for technical support, training, and consulting, as well as assistance in implementing a system of protected geographical indications to increase the competitiveness of Ukrainian wines in domestic and foreign markets.
