Finland allocates about EUR 50 million to support Ukraine
Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Tavio in Kyiv: Finland announces new investments and humanitarian aid
During his visit to Kyiv on November 12, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio announced Finland’s commitment to support the reform of Ukraine’s education sector and provide humanitarian aid. In Kyiv, the minister also signed a framework agreement on a mixed credit instrument between Finland and Ukraine.
On the same day, the minister took part in the meeting of the International School Feeding Coalition and held talks with the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyridenko, Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction and Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksiy Kuleba, Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko and Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisov.
Representatives of Finnish companies in the field of education and civil defense, as well as the EastCham Finland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also participated in the ministerial meetings.
“Finland continues to provide strong, comprehensive support to Ukraine and can thus respond to Ukraine’s immediate and long-term needs. The recovery of Ukraine is a significant effort. Finnish companies have a lot to offer and we support their participation in the recovery through various financial instruments”, – said Minister Tavio.
Support for school meals and the humanitarian situation
Minister Tavio gave a speech at the opening of the meeting of the International School Feeding Coalition and highlighted the factors contributing to the success of Finnish school feeding. At the meeting, Finland announced that it is supporting the World Food Program (WFP) school feeding program in Ukraine for 500,000 euros in 2024. In the 2023-2024 school year, WFP helped nearly 700 schools in Ukraine serve a total of 5.6 million hot lunches to approximately 90,000 primary school students.
In addition, Finland supports humanitarian work by allocating 8 million euros to finance the operations of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Ukraine. Currently, almost 15 million people in Ukraine need constant humanitarian assistance. Due to damage to the energy infrastructure, Ukrainians are expecting the hardest winter since the beginning of the war. Humanitarian needs are growing, especially on the front lines.
Investments to promote recovery
In Kyiv, Minister Tavio signed a framework agreement on a mixed credit instrument, the Finnish-Ukrainian Investment Fund (FUIF), between Finland and Ukraine. The new hybrid credit facility can generate investments worth EUR 50 million in 2025-2026 to support investment projects that Ukraine considers important. The tool is part of Finland’s national recovery plan for Ukraine. The goal is to support investments in the public sector of Ukraine that meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals and use Finnish products, services, expertise and technologies.
Finland will provide support to the reform of the education sector of Ukraine in the amount of 20 million euros
Finland will support the education sector of Ukraine in the amount of 20 million euros in 2025-2028. The bilateral project between Finland and Ukraine will focus on the implementation of the reform of general secondary education. The project was prepared in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland and the National Education Agency of Finland. The project will support the overall development of the educational system of Ukraine.
The reform of general secondary education will also include the development of a system of student welfare and response to the psychosocial needs of students caused by the war. The project will take into account gender equality, the rights of persons with disabilities and access to general secondary education for vulnerable groups.
