The city of St Gallen (Switzerland) has donated 11 buses to the Chernihiv City, which until recently were public transport in the Swiss community. This was made possible thanks to the active support of the students Association St. Gallen Helps Ukraine and the coordination of the project by the Ukraine Switzerland Bern Association. It is expected that the first transfer of buses under this campaign will become a pilot model for future cooperation between Swiss and Ukrainian municipalities.
The project aims to create a mechanism for the transfer of used buses. Despite their long service life, the vehicles are in excellent condition. This was confirmed by experts during an independent examination. Switzerland has abandoned the use of buses due to new legislative environmental requirements for public transport, which make it impossible to use diesel-powered vehicles. Instead, second-hand buses are being used productively in Ukraine due to growing problems with electricity supply. The idea to mobilise buses for Ukraine came about during a visit of the Ukrainian parliamentary delegation to Switzerland in May 2023. The trip, dedicated to the reform of high school education, was organised by the DECIDE project, implemented by the NGO DOCCU (Ukraine) and the Pedagogical Institute in Zurich (Switzerland). Initially, it was about school buses, but close cooperation between both parties led to the development of the project in the field of public transport.
The Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) financed the expertise, repairs and logistics for the transport of the buses. The Transport company of St. Gallen also donated all available bus components that may be needed later during the repairs process. The transfer of the buses was accompanied by a special vehicle which specialises in spare parts. All the buses were transferred to the Chernihiv City Council. This means it is responsible for the operation, maintenance and free transportation of all categories of socially vulnerable people.
Chernihiv was one of the first Ukrainian cities to suffer significant losses due to the war. The Russians destroyed a large part of the city's public infrastructure, including 30% of the trolleybus network. In addition, at the beginning of the war, buses were partially mobilised for the needs of the army. The city's existing public transport is unable to serve the city's residents and the large number of internally displaced persons. Chernihiv has a total population of about 280,000.
The video is available on the EBA YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZkIp3oGQg4&t=4s
