The Norwegian government has announced plans to provide Ukraine with gratuitous financial assistance worth nearly EUR 7 billion in the next five years.
Every year Ukraine will receive aid from Norway worth EUR 1.4 billion every year. The point of this aid is to provide long-term support to the Ukrainian people and to show Russia that free and democratic countries are on Ukraine’s side, said Norway’s PM Jonas Gahr Støre.
He also said that
from this year onward half of this amount is intended to go to military needs and the other half – towards humanitarian needs.
In the future, however, this split may change.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Norway for this aid. «It is a significant contribution to our future victory of the aggressor and successful post-war recovery,» he said in a video on Monday, the 6th of February.
Norwegian PM previously denied claims that his country is making money off the situation in the gas market and the Russian-Ukrainian war. At the same time, the politician said with this package of air Norway will soon become one of Ukraine’s biggest donors in the world.
Jonas Gahr Støre denied claims from the Polish PM that
Oslo, though unwillingly, benefits financially from the war in Ukraine.
Since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war Norway has increased gas production by 8-10%. It is currently Europe’s largest supplier of natural gas. The Norwegian government predicts the biggest budget surplus this year – EUR 103 billion.
Also read: Russia to strengthen positions in eastern Ukraine