Estonia has completed the development of a compensation mechanism that provides for the use of russian funds for the needs of Ukraine
04.04.2024
To date, Estonia is among the leaders in terms of defence and humanitarian aid to Ukraine per capita. As of today, defence aid has been provided in the amount of over EUR 520 million, which is about 1.4% of the country’s GDP. This was stated by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal during a joint press conference with Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas.
“We highly appreciate Estonia’s support becoming a long-term one. The Estonian government has developed a Strategy for Ukraine’s Victory, which provides for annual defence assistance to Ukraine in the amount of 0.25% of GDP over the next 4 years,” said Denys Shmyhal.
The Prime Minister of Ukraine also thanked the Estonian side for its proactive practical support of President Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula. Recently, Estonia agreed to become a co-leader of point 5 of the Formula, Implementation of the UN Charter and Restoration of Territorial Integrity.
The Head of the Ukrainian Government also expressed hope that Estonia would support the decision to extend autonomous trade liberalisation measures. According to him, duty-free trade will benefit not only Ukrainian but also European companies that export tens of billions of dollars worth of goods and services to Ukraine.
“Our other strategic objective is to continue developing transport logistics. In particular, we believe it is promising to involve Ukraine in the Rail Baltica logistics project. This will open up new opportunities for our exports and create another pillar for the Ukrainian economy,” the Prime Minister of Ukraine said.
During the meeting, they discussed in detail the mechanism of compensation for the damage caused to Ukraine by russia.
“There is no doubt that the losses should be compensated at the expense of frozen russian assets. Estonia has already completed the development of a compensation mechanism that provides for the use of funds from russia for the needs of Ukraine. We look forward to its final approval,” the Prime Minister of Ukraine stressed.
It was noted that Estonia is becoming one of the key partners in the recovery process. In particular, it has taken patronage of the Zhytomyr region: “And we can already see the results – a kindergarten in Ovruch, a bridge in Malyn and other facilities have been rebuilt. Such projects create the conditions for Ukrainians to return home and serve as an example to follow.”
Following the bilateral meeting, the Prime Ministers of Ukraine and Estonia signed a Joint Statement.
