Cabinet allocates funds for military purchases, winter aid for Ukraine

The Cabinet is allocating an extra 110 million euros to help Ukraine through the winter, according to Minister Liesje Schreinemacher (Foreign Trade). The Cabinet previously released 70 million euros for this, but due to ongoing Russian attacks on utilities, more money is needed. The Netherlands will also invest 100 million euros in a new international fund financing military purchases for Ukraine.

In Ukraine, there is a great need to repair houses and get the electricity supply going again, Schreinemacher wrote in a letter to the Tweede Kamer. Ukraine has asked for more help, according to the minister. According to her, it is a matter of weeks before the money ends up in Ukraine. She previously said there is "no time to lose" when it comes to this kind of aid for the country.

In total, the Netherlands has already allocated more than 1.5 billion euros to assist Ukraine during the invasion by Russia, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Last month, the World Bank calculated that Ukraine will eventually need at least 349 billion euros for reconstruction. To a large extent this concerns money that is only needed in the longer term, when there is peace.

Meanwhile, the Netherland will also finance military purchases for Ukraine in an initiative of Great Britain, according to Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren. Denmark and Norway will also contribute to the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU).

The government in Kyiv will indicate what equipment it needs and then money from the fund will be used to place orders directly with the industry. The first contracts will probably be signed this year, after which the first deliveries should follow in the first half of next year.

The fund offers the participants an additional method to support Ukraine that is not at the expense of their own readiness and deployability, according to the Ministry of Defense. Previously, the ministry also supplied equipment from its own stocks, but that is coming to an end. Ollongren also announced on Friday that it would order from the industry for 75 million euros for Ukraine.

According to the minister, the budget can be used to the maximum by merging the money. Purchasing equipment together is also faster, she says. Furthermore, the IFU guarantees long-term supplies to the Kyiv armed forces. It does not mean that all military purchases from the Netherlands for Ukraine will now go through the new fund. "We look at the possibilities for each situation and what is most efficient," said a spokesperson for the ministry.

The establishment of the fund is in a final phase, the minister said after consultations in Edinburgh, Scotland, between ministers of countries that participate in the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF). Ten countries will work together to ensure the security of northern Europe. They also discussed, among other things, the security of submarine infrastructure such as pipelines and internet cables in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.