News item | 17-02-2023 | 19:00
The Netherlands stands behind Ukraine, now and in the future. Prime Minister Rutte and Minister Schreinemacher for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation personally conveyed that message to President Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday.
For Rutte and Schreinemacher, it was their second visit to Ukraine since the start of the large-scale Russian attack on the country almost a year ago. In the conversation with Zelensky and other members of the government, they emphasized that the Netherlands will continue to support Ukraine: militarily, humanitarianly, with assistance in the recovery of the country and the trial of war crimes.
They also inquired about the needs of the Ukrainians for the coming period in the fight against Russia and to help the population. For this year, the government has reserved 2.5 billion euros for support to the country.
Led lamps
In a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Julia Svyrydenko, Minister Schreinemacher announced on behalf of the cabinet that she would support Ukraine with a contribution of 5 million LED lamps, which Ukraine had requested. LED lights are needed to help relieve pressure on the Ukrainian electricity grid.
The Dutch contribution is intended for the Ukrainian initiative Enlighten Ukraine. This aims to replace 50 million incandescent light bulbs with LED lights. As a result, an energy saving of 10% can be achieved. Russia systematically bombs Ukrainian energy infrastructure. As a result, various parts of the country are without electricity for several hours a day. According to President Zelensky, his country is short of an average of 2.5 gigawatts of electricity. The EU has already supplied 30 million LED lamps to this initiative.
Restore destroyed energy infrastructure
At a destroyed power station of the national electricity distribution company Ukrenergo, the Prime Minister and Minister Schreinemacher spoke to the CEO of Ukrenergo about the state of the electricity network. The Netherlands contributes to the recovery of the facilities of Ukrenergo. The Netherlands also sends transformers, switching components and cables that are needed to help restore the grid.