Since the beginning of 2024, a solidarity partnership has existed between the Ukrainian Mykolaiv Oblast and the German state of Lower Saxony. The state of Lower Saxony supports the Mykolaiv Oblast with humanitarian aid, reconstruction, economic cooperation, and EU integration, among other things.

It is important to establish partnerships in areas such as education and science, justice and policing, sustainable development, as well as at the municipal level. Both sides want to strongly support exchanges and encounters between citizens as a basis for lively cooperation. Lower Saxony is Germany's leading agricultural state.
As part of this partnership, a delegation from Mykolaiv visited Lower Saxony last week and held numerous talks with stakeholders in Lower Saxony's agricultural and food industry and gained insights into many companies. The trip was organized by the Hanover Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

The delegation from Mykolaiv included:

• Heorhii RESHETILOV (First Deputy Head of Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration),
• Viacheslav SHEBANIN (Acting Rector of Mykolaiv National Agrarian University),
• Dmytro KOSHKIN (Director of the Educational and Research Institute of Mechanics and Technology of Mykolaiv National Agrarian University),
• Rustamdzhan SADRIDINOV (Director of LLC “ERAGRO” (Grains, Vegetables, Green Houses, Sublimated products)) and
• Vitalii RIABOSHAPKO (General Director of JSC «Koblevo» (Winery)).

The first day of the meeting took place at the German School of Agricultural Engineering (DEULA) in Nienburg and was dominated by presentations by the Ukrainian participants and representatives of Lower Saxony's universities, research associations, the Lower Saxony Ministry of Agriculture, and universities and companies from this federal state. These included the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, the Julius Kühn Institute, the Lower Saxony Agricultural Transformation Research Network, and the companies Europlant, Piccoplant, and others.

The “German-Ukrainian Cooperation in Organic Agriculture” project was also represented at the meeting. In his presentation, project leader Dr. Stefan Dreesmann outlined the activities of the project and other projects in Ukraine funded by the German Ministry of Agriculture. Dr. Dreesmann also presented a project on organic farming in the Mykolaiv Oblast, which is funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Agriculture and currently being implemented by the German consulting firm GOPA-AFC, Bonn.