Lithuania’s total military, humanitarian, and financial assistance to Ukraine is estimated at €1 billion, representing 1.42% of GDP for 2022. Lithuania is now third in the world in terms of aid commitment to Ukraine as a percentage of GDP and is running several projects dedicated to reconstructing the country’s infrastructure. Citizens have stepped up, crowdfunding five million eu-ros in three days to pay for a Bayraktar TB2 combat drone for Ukraine, and 14 million euros for radars to protect Ukrainian skies.
Minister of the Economy and Innovation, Aušrinė Armonaitė, together with UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman, discussed Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts and the countries’ objectives during a session at the Ukraine Recovery Conference.
“Being part of this conference gives us the opportunity not only to express our political position but also to meet with business representatives to discuss Ukraine’s very specific needs and further reconstruction efforts. This is particularly important because without the involvement of private businesses and organisations, the reconstruction of Ukraine would be almost impossible. It is also crucial to focus on innovation and digitalisation in order to rebuild a modern, resilient, and innovative Ukraine. Ukraine already has a strong foundation, and technology is already working well even in wartime,” said Ms. Armonaitė during the event.
Lithuania is implementing several projects to rebuild Ukraine’s infrastructure. One of them has already been completed – a mobile settlement in Borodyanka, which was handed over to the Ukrainians to house 36 families who lost their homes. Lithuania is also working to rebuild a school in Borodyanka damaged by explosions and is renovating a kindergarten in Irpin. The projects are expected to be completed this autumn. Lithuania has also started upgrading the electricity distribution network in Mykolaiv.
