It’s official!
Bures-sur-Yvette, a municipality in the Île-de-France Region, and Bilohorodka, located in Kyiv Oblast, have formalised their partnership by signing a Memorandum of Friendship during the International Summit of Cities and Regions in Kyiv. This partnership builds on an already established relationship: in November 2025, under the leadership of Mayor Jean-François Vigier, Bures-sur-Yvette welcomed a group of children from Bilohorodka together with their mayor, Anton Ovsienko, and later donated a generator to help the municipality cope with power outages caused by Russian attacks.
Bures-sur-Yvette and Bilohorodka share many similarities. Both are located near their respective capitals, combining natural surroundings with well-managed urban development, while placing a strong emphasis on education and innovation. Bures-sur-Yvette benefits from the scientific ecosystem of Paris-Saclay, whereas Bilohorodka is advancing the digitalisation of education and public services. It was therefore only natural for the two municipalities to focus their partnership on cultural, social and educational exchanges.
This initial cooperation laid the foundations for strong personal ties, which were further strengthened during the visit of the Mayor of Bures-sur-Yvette to Bilohorodka on the eve of the Summit. This reflects the very spirit of the MistoMatch programme: strengthening Franco-Ukrainian relations through practical, municipality-to-municipality cooperation and supporting Ukraine through decentralised partnerships.
Our sincere thanks to our partners at Cities4Cities for their invaluable support in making this partnership possible.
