Chuhuiv and Danderyd become partners: a new Ukrainian-Swedish municipal partnership

Within the framework of the Swedish-Ukrainian Municipal Partnership Forum, on May 21, 2025, in the Swedish municipality of Danderyd, an official memorandum of partnership was signed between the cities of Chuhuiv (Ukraine) and Danderyd (Sweden).

The ceremony was attended at Djursholm Castle by the mayor of Chuhuiv City Council, Galyna Minayeva, and the mayor of Danderyd Municipality, Johanna Hornberger. The partnership between Chuhuiv and Danderyd was made possible by the Cities4Cities initiative, which is part of the Polaris programme.

The story of this partnership started in June 2024 during the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 in Berlin. Chuhuiv Mayor Galyna Minayeva discussed with Swedish Minister for Migration Johan Forssell the opportunities of cooperation with Swedish communities.

Within a month, the municipality of Danderyd responded to the request and established direct contact with Chuhuiv.

The main areas of partnership include:

• urban development and spatial planning (including sustainable urban growth and infrastructure);
• social services and community development;
• environmental sustainability (including waste management and energy efficiency);
• cultural exchange and education;
• innovation, digitalization, and the use of technology to improve urban life;
  crisis response and community resilience (drawing on Ukraine’s experience during the war);
• public health, safety, and awareness-raising;
  economic development and trade (including support for entrepreneurship and tourism).

With financing from Sida, SALAR International is organising the Municipal Partnership Forum in collaboration with Cities4Cities, within the Polaris Programme in Ukraine. The event is being implemented by the Cities4Cities initiative, which is part of the programme.

In total, during the forum, Ukraine and Sweden and deepened 11 partnerships between municipalities.