Many international cooperations can fail due to a lack of understanding of the different ways of working on both sides if the cultural differences are not sufficiently known. On two consecutive days on October 17 and 18, first Ukrainian participants and then participants from German municipal companies were made aware of possible pitfalls and faux pas in cooperation.

More than a dozen water utilities in various regions of Ukraine have established partnerships with German utilities as part of the Utility Platform. Another two partnerships are currently in preparation. Against this background, the Utility Platform was invited to the Lviv Eco Forum 2023 - the most important event of the Ukrainian water industry - to present its work.

A delegation of Ukrainian peers visited Hamburg Wasser from 16 to 22 July 2023 to strengthen cooperation and exchange experiences in the field of water supply. The Ukrainian delegation showed great interest in the good practices and procedures used in Hamburg around drinking water treatment.

This was already the 3rd visit of the South African team to Oldenburg. From 16 to 29 July 2023, a delegation of six from Buffalo City, South Africa, travelled to the German cities Radevormwald and Oldenburg. In teams of three, they each visited the two wastewater treatment plants for a week. The delegation was particularly interested in the sewage sludge management.

The main goal of the partnership is to train and optimise the operation and maintenance of existing facilities in the drinking water and wastewater sector. However, the partners are also interested in business management, recruitment of skilled staff, commercial aspects as well as public relations and plan to engage in exchange of expertise on these topics.

The sixth German-Ukrainian municipal partnership conference will take place in Leipzig from 13 to 15 November 2023 and offer participants a varied programme with expert impulses and networking opportunities, in which the Utility Platform will contribute with an expert forum. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, patron of the German-Ukrainian municipal partnership network, and Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Svenja Schulze will contribute to the event's high-level programme with their greetings and keynote speeches.