Serhii Komnatnyi: Cooperation with international partners unlocks new opportunities

Conference with directors of Regional Offices of State Fund for Support of Youth Housing Construction

On July 8, 2021, a conference was held with the participation of the Chairman and members of the Board of the State Fund for Support of Youth Housing Construction (SFYH), directors of the SFYH's regional offices, and heads of structural units of the central office of the SFYH.

In view of the implementation by the SFYH of the Project "Housing for Internally Displaced Persons", financed by the Government of Germany through KfW, the meeting was attended by representatives of IPC, which has been assigned as the Project Implementation Consultant.

For the first time in a year and a half of holding such events offline due to the quarantine restrictions introduced in Ukraine in connection with the COVID-19 epidemic, the meeting was held in the manner of "live" communication.

In the opening speech of the conference, Serhii Komnatnyi, Chairman of the Board of the SFYH, pointed out  that the implementation of the Project “Housing for Internally Displaced Persons” is important not only because it is the first project that SFYH implements through donor funds but also because the practical results of the project are expected by thousands of families of internally displaced persons who have been forced to flee their homes due to military conflict in the East and South of Ukraine.

"We appreciate the trust given to the SFYH as the Project Executing Agency by our partners - the Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories, KfW and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany," stated Serhii Komnatnyi, expressing confidence that the SFYH has enough experience, professionalism, and potential to implement the Project at the sophisticated level.

This trust would not exist if not for the SFYH's modernization route taken and consistently followed since 2017. In four years, IDPs' access to housing programs has been simplified, registries of candidates and participants have been opened, and online registration and free choice of housing objects under the programs have been provided.

SFYH has introduced an accounting process according to international financial reporting standards, codified credit procedures. This made it possible to improve the quality of the loan portfolio, which today is one of the best among financial institutions in Ukraine. In addition, many other transformation processes have taken place.

"The fund has become not only a customer-oriented government institution, we have become visible and transparent to international partners. Cooperation with them unlocks new opportunities both for SFYH and citizens in need of housing", said Serhii Komnatnyi.

The main future task faced by the SFYH is to continue the transformation of the institution to expand cooperation with KfW and other donors.

Today, unfortunately, funding for housing programs from the national budget is significantly reduced. However, the SFYH is trying to draw the government's attention to housing policy. Within the framework of the governmental Interdepartmental Working Group, appropriate proposals are being prepared based on the results of the analysis of all state housing programs. "If there is the political will at the national level to implement transparent and effective housing programs, we can implement them swiftly and effectively," stated the Chairman of the Board of the SFYH.

Serhii Komnatnyi stated that the unchanging partners of the institution, which were and remain local governments. Together with them, the regional offices of the SFYH implement more than 100 housing programs for different categories of citizens. "The pandemic has prevented us from continuing a full-fledged dialogue with the regions to the extent we have reached by 2020. However, we will definitely return to this activity in the near future," assured Serhii Komnatnyi.

During the meeting, key aspects of the Project implementation and other working issues arising in the process of administering housing programs were discussed.

The best employees of the institution were awarded with memorable awards of the SFYH.