By Ukraine Rebuild News Staff
Denmark will contribute 1.2 billion Danish kroner ($173 million) to the “early recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine” next year, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release.
The government allocated more than half of that sum, or 631 million kroner, specifically to “reconstruction in Ukraine,” and 100 million kroner will take the form of loans for infrastructure improvements from the Danida Sustainable Infrastructure Finance fund. The rest is earmarked for humanitarian support, anti-corruption efforts and other reforms, plus macro-financial support for Ukraine.
“Concretely, the Danish aid must, among other things, contribute to providing emergency aid to the victims of the war,” the ministry said. “At the same time it must also help with the early reconstruction of the country. It is about assisting the Ukrainians with a greener and better reconstruction of the critical infrastructure such as electricity and water.”
Much of the reconstruction aid from Denmark, a nation of 6 million, will go toward the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv at the request of Ukrainian authorities, the release said. Mykolaiv, a port city and transport hub of about 400,000 residents on the Black Sea, has been hit repeatedly by Russian missile strikes throughout the war.
Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said in an interview in August with news agency Ukrinform that 120 apartment buildings and more than 1,000 private residential buildings in Mykolaiv were damaged by rocket attacks, and more than 30 apartment buildings and about 100 houses are beyond repair.
The Danish government, as part of a Ukraine fund it created in March, also allocated 300 million kroner to help countries bordering Ukraine, such as Georgia and Moldova, withstand the effects of the influx of refugees amid the fighting.
Overall, the Danish contribution to Ukraine and neighboring countries will total 1.5 billion kroner next year, an increase of 25% from 1.2 billion kroner this year.
