Ukraine Horizon Europe launch day

On 3 December 2021, following the signature of the Horizon Europe association agreement between the European Commission and Ukraine in early October, the Horizon Europe Launch Day was held virtually in both Brussels and Kyiv. The event was organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine in close collaboration with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation.

The main objective of the event was to highlight the opportunities that exist and which are open to Ukrainian participants in Horizon Europe. Ukraine’s association to Horizon Europe gives Ukrainian research entities the possibility to participate in Horizon Europe activities and calls on equal footing with entities from EU member states.

Keynote addresses at the opening ceremony were delivered by Mr. Oleksii Shkuratov Deputy Minister on European Integration in the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Ms. Signe Ratso, Deputy Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation and Mr. Grуgorii Mozolevych, Acting Director-General of the Directorate on Science and Innovation of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

Ms. Signe Ratso, who also acts as Chief Negotiator for Horizon Europe Association, highlighted the dedication of the Ukrainian authorities to make association possible, which culminated in this celebration and the official launch in Ukraine of both the EU Horizon Europe programme and the Euratom R&T programme. She noted that these developments provided a springboard for Ukraine to reach new heights and successes.

Ms. Ratso also underlined in her keynote speech that Ukraine is an important partner for the European Union in the fields of science, technology and innovation and welcomed the hard work of the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science. She also congratulated Ukraine for the swift and successful negotiations around the association agreements to Horizon Europe and to Euratom R&T and expressed her best wishes for a strong and significant Ukrainian participation in all instruments of both programmes.

Ukraine was the country with the highest number of participations among Eastern Partnership countries in Horizon 2020 and ranked 7th in terms of participations among the 16 associated countries in that Framework Programme.

More information

International cooperation with Ukraine