The Federal Development Aid Minister Caroline Gennez (Flemish Socialist) announced on Friday that Belgium is to release a further 9 million euro in aid to help finance repairs to damaged energy infrastructure in Ukraine. The cash is part of a new package of support measures for Ukraine.
Since the start of its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been targeting the country's energy infrastructure. In two years of war, half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed. In a statement Ms Gennez’s office explained that "Hundreds of thousands of people depend on these power stations for heating, cooking and washing".
The 9 million euro from Belgium will go to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that specialises in economic development. The UNDP was the first to supply new generators to Ukraine after the outbreak of war. It has since set up a system for rapidly purchasing spare parts and supplying new equipment to repair damaged and destroyed infrastructure.
Ms Gennez explains that "Ukraine's energy infrastructure is antiquated and highly centralised, making it very vulnerable to attack by Russian missiles. This is why UNDP is focusing on sustainable and decentralised energy sources, such as solar panels. Their use means that the destruction of a single installation does not immediately lead to power cuts for hundreds of thousands of people."
The Federal Development Aid Minister added that "This is a tried and tested tactic of Putin's: to make life as difficult as possible for the Ukrainian population close to the frontline in order to break them psychologically. Through the UN, Belgium will help repair the energy infrastructure around the city of Kharkiv, which is now under daily bombardment from the Russian army. Together with military support, this will help to strengthen Ukraine's resilience."