Acting Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine Vasyl Shkurakov and director of the Belgian development agency “Enabel” in Ukraine Dirk Depre signed a memorandum of cooperation. Belgium took patronage over Kyiv, Chernihiv and the corresponding regions — it will allocate €150 million for the restoration of the regions, in particular for the reconstruction of social and energy infrastructure.
This was reported by the press service of the relevant ministry.
The documents state that the countries will jointly build and reconstruct educational, healthcare and energy infrastructure. It is also about the construction of shelters and back-up power supply and heating systems.
The newly appointed ambassador of Belgium to Ukraine Luc Jacobs was present at the signing of the memorandums. According to him, he is currently observing the expansion of cooperation between Ukraine and Belgium.
In May of this year, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo signed a security agreement. It will be valid for the next 10 years. Luc Jacobs said that this agreement is an indicator and a basis for strengthening cooperation between the countries in the years to come.
In May 2022, President Zelensky suggested that partner countries take patronage over various regions of Ukraine that suffered from Russian aggression. He called not only to finance this process, but also to share the experience of specialists. Many countries volunteered for such an initiative. For example, Denmark allocated more than $21 million for the reconstruction of Mykolaiv — it was one of many aid packages for the region.