Latvia provides €595M in aid to Ukraine since full-scale war

According to Ukrinform, this was stated by Foreign Minister Krišjānis Kariņš in the annual report on Latvia's foreign policy, Delfi reports.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the volume of macro-financial, humanitarian and development assistance from the Latvian budget has amounted to about €39 million. These funds were used to make contributions to the UN, World Bank, European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and OECD instruments to support Ukraine, as well as to finance cooperation projects.

Kariņš emphasized that Latvia continues to participate in the process of restoring Ukraine, paying special attention to Chernihiv region. In particular, a €2 million agreement was signed with the United Nations Development Program to restore social infrastructure in the region.

In 2023, Latvia allocated €5.1 million for the restoration of Ukraine, of which €3.1 million was implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to the minister, in 2023, along with the implementation of projects to overcome the consequences of the war, projects to support Ukraine's European integration continued, for which more than €500,000 was allocated from the MFA budget.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, 240 Ukrainian soldiers have been treated and rehabilitated in hospitals and rehabilitation centers in Riga.

As noted in the report, Latvian civil society, entrepreneurs and the non-governmental sector continue to actively support Ukraine by providing humanitarian and military assistance. The Ziedot.lv Charitable Foundation has received donations worth more than €23.7 million, which are aimed at the needs of Ukraine's defense sector, medical institutions, and Ukrainian refugees in Latvia.

Kariņš said that at the EU level, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs advocates for a change in the approach to supporting Ukraine, stating that it should be more systematic and focused on a long-term period, as Russia still has enough resources to continue its war of aggression. Latvia strongly supports the creation of a €50 billion instrument to support Ukraine by 2027 to provide macro-financial assistance and support for reforms.

The Foreign Minister noted that Latvia continued to provide all types of military assistance to Ukraine on a bilateral basis, which has amounted to €370 million since the beginning of the aggression.

As Ukrinform reported, Ukraine had attracted more than $42 billion in international aid this year, which allowed it to finance all necessary expenditures.