BETEN International organized for Mariupol municipality a working visit to France, combining official meetings and field visits. The purpose of this visit was to meet institutional actors and French companies to help Mariupol city on the issues of water supply, seafront landscaping and sustainable development.
In January, France and Ukraine signed an intergovernmental agreement which provides, in the framework of a concessional loan, the granting to the Ukrainian State of a 64 million euro funding for the implementation of the project of Mariupol drinking water supply and water cycle management.
During the visit, Mariupol delegation, led by its mayor, met with the representatives of the French Ministry for the Economy and Finance, who reaffirmed France’s support to Mariupol, a strategic city for the development of bilateral relations between France and Ukraine.
The visit to France was also an opportunity for the mayor to meet French water and urban planning companies and to visit a wastewater treatment plant built by STEREAU company.
After a series of meetings in Paris, Mariupol delegation went to New Aquitaine to adopt best practices in urban and tourist seafront landscaping. The delegates visited two cities in the region, La Rochelle and Bordeaux, which in the past faced similar issues to those in Mariupol.
In La Rochelle, the delegation visited beaches, ports and the maritime museum and met with representatives of the city council as well as local companies and associations able to provide their expertise and know-how to help Mariupol. In Bordeaux, the delegation met with the Director of Littoral Aquitaine Public Interest Group and the Director General of the Landes de Gascogne Regional Nature Park and visited Le Teich Ornithological Reserve and the Pilat Dune.
All these meetings and visits allowed Mariupol’s representatives to discover examples of best practices in coastal landscaping and to get acquainted with the best technical solutions for carrying out similar projects in their city.
