EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarína Mathernová has wrapped up her visit to Volyn
Two days, two cities, one region delivering. Last week EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarína Mathernová has wrapped up her visit to Volyn.
In Kovel, together with EIB Vice-President Karl Nehammer, UNDP Resident Representative Auke Lootsma, Mayor Ihor Chaika, the Ambassador opened the renovated Lyceum No 12.
EU Delegation to Ukraine
It is the first completed project under the EIB's Ukraine Public Buildings Energy Efficiency Programme, backed by an EU guarantee under the Ukraine Facility.
Improved learning conditions for 1,200+ students and staff
9 more public buildings are in the pipeline through EIB and NEFCO
The Ambassador also visited new housing for around 200 internally displaced people — 70 apartments funded by a €4.8 million EU grant and delivered by NEFCO. This is the first step under a wider €100 million programme to provide safe homes for around 9,000 displaced Ukrainians nationwide.
On the road to Lutsk, the EU Ambassador stopped in Kolodiazhne for a tour of the Lesya Ukrainka Literary and Memorial Manor-Museum, a quiet reminder that culture and identity sit at the heart of Ukraine's European choice.
Day two of the Ambassador's visit to Volyn took her to Lutsk, where European support is visible.
Ahead of World Press Freedom Day, the Ambassador met regional journalists and editors at the Korsaks' Museum of Ukrainian Contemporary Art. Since 2017, the EU has invested over €110 million in Ukraine's independent media, including around €57 million since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Rayon Media
The next morning brought a moment of remembrance. Together with Acting Mayor Kateryna Shklyoda, Acting Head of the Volyn RMA Roman Romaniuk and Oblast Council Chair Hryhoriy Nedopad, the Ambassador laid candles at the memorial on Theatre Square.
The Ambassador also visited the newly opened Family Support Centre, offering day care for children with disabilities and providing peer-to-peer support for foster caregivers and vulnerable families. The Centre is part of Ukraine's broader Better Care reform, backed by the EU and UNICEF, which is shifting the childcare system away from institutions and toward families and communities.
At Edelvika, a Lutsk-based textile company employing around 235 people and exporting to France, Germany and Poland, EU support helped finance new equipment that more than doubled capacity, while opening doors to European markets.
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Lunch at Misto.cafe with local women leaders — a social enterprise that channels 80% of profits into community projects. Then coffee at Stare Misto Café, founded by Larysa Novosad and Olena Melnyk — two mothers of sons with Down Syndrome who opened Lutsk's first inclusive café employing people with disabilities. They also run a parents' NGO that recently received an EU grant through 100% Life Network Rivne.
A walk through Liubart’s Castle closed the visit.
EU Delegation
Two days, two cities, one message: the EU stands with Ukraine — not with words, but with concrete projects that warm classrooms, build homes, support families, protect free media and help businesses grow.