A city from Brazil became a new partner of Odesa

Odesa has officially gained a new partner - the Brazilian city of Nova Odesa, founded by immigrants from Ukraine more than a hundred years ago. The cooperation has already started with joint celebrations and plans to participate in international fairs.

The decision was made at a session of the Odesa City Council.

On September 24, members of the Odesa City Council supported the decision to establish partnerships between Odesa and its Brazilian namesake, the city of Nova Odesa, located near São Paulo. Thus, the Ukrainian seaside city has a new international partner with whom it shares a common history.

As the city's mayor, Gennadiy Trukhanov, reminded us, there are at least 22 settlements in the world named "Odesa". Most of them are in the United States - five cities, ten towns and three counties. Canada also has two townships and even a lake with the same name. In Brazil, New Odesa emerged due to its direct connection with Ukraine.

The city was founded on May 24, 1905, after the visit of the Minister of Agriculture of the State of São Paulo, Carlos José de Arruda Botelho, to our Odesa. The first residents of the newly created settlement were immigrants from the Ukrainian Black Sea coast.

This year, Nova Odesa celebrates its 120th anniversary, and cooperation between the two cities has already begun. With the assistance of the Embassy of Ukraine in Brazil, Ukraine's Independence Day and Odesa City Day were celebrated there. In addition, the Ukrainian city received an invitation to participate in the International Fair of Nations, where a Ukrainian stand will appear for the first time alongside Latvia, Italy, Portugal, the United States, Spain, Israel, and Japan. We are currently working on its design.

In September, three more names were added to the memorial sign of Odesa's sister cities and partners - two European cities and one African city. Mainz, Heidelberg, and Tahita Taveta appeared on the sign. Previously, the list of sister cities consisted of 22 names.

Last year, Odesa was joined by two more sister cities - Heidelberg, Germany, and Fortaleza, Brazil. After the outbreak of a full-scale war, it was Heidelberg that actively helped Odesa: in 2022, it donated a modern fire tower to the city, which became necessary for the work of rescuers, and organized a special camp for Odesa youth.

Анна Бальчінос