Belgium releases 9m euros to restore Ukrainian energy infrastructure
Belgium is allocating 9 million euros to help restore energy infrastructure in Ukraine, which is often the target of Russian attacks, Development Cooperation minister Caroline Gennez announced on Friday. The money will go to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), an organisation specialised in economic development.
Russia regularly carries out attacks on power plants and other energy infrastructure in Ukraine. An attack in March destroyed 10 major power plants in a single day, and since Russia's invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, half of all Ukrainian energy infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, Gennez said in a press release. “Hundreds of thousands of people depend on these plants to keep warm, cook and wash," she said.
"It remains important that we send not only weapons but also humanitarian aid for the population and support for reconstruction," said Gennez, of Flemish socialist party Vooruit.
The money will go to the UNDP, which will use it to restore energy infrastructure around Kharkiv, a city in eastern Ukraine close to the front. The UNDP focuses on more distributed energy sources, such as solar panels, so that the destruction of one installation does not immediately leave hundreds of thousands of people without power.
Minister for Development Cooperation Caroline Gennez © BELGA PHOTO JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE
Related news
