Norway to Donate $195Mln to Purchase Gas for Ukraine Through EBRD
20221121
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Norway will give 2 billion kroner ($195 million) for Ukraine to buy gas during winter through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Norwegian government said Monday.
"Norwegian Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum has today signed an agreement to provide funding of NOK 2 billion to enable Ukraine to purchase natural gas during the coming winter. The Norwegian funding will be channelled through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development," the government said in a statement.
The Norwegian government called itself the second-largest donor to the EBRD's work in Ukraine.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt stated her opinion that Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure ahead of winter were aimed at breaking its "resistance."
"Norwegian support to secure energy supplies is therefore vitally important for Ukraine," she added, as quoted in the same government statement.
Since Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, Western countries have been providing Kiev with humanitarian, military and financial aid. In July, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store announced that Oslo would allocate 10 billion kroner to Ukraine in 2022 and 2023.
Russia has been targeting Ukraine's military and energy infrastructure with retaliatory air strikes since October 10, two days after the bombing of the Crimean Bridge that was organized by Ukrainian special services.
On November 1, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that about 40% of Ukraine's energy infrastructure had been damaged as a result of these strikes, leading to mass blackouts throughout the country.
© Sputnik
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