Sweden will support the Grain from Ukraine initiative to ensure food security by providing an additional SEK 100 million (approximately $9.6 million) through the UN World Food Program (WFP), Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a live webcast of the initiative’s summit in Kyiv on November 25.
For his part, Swiss President Alain Berset, who attended the summit, announced that Switzerland would contribute to the relief effort by providing CHF 3 million (about $3.4 million) to the World Food Program.
“As a result of Russia’s military aggression, agricultural production in Ukraine has fallen by 45%; about 11 million people in the country are dependent on food aid,” the Swiss Embassy in Ukraine said in a Facebook post.
“It is admirable how Ukraine is defending its country against Russia’s ongoing aggression and at the same time contributing to the global food supply. We support Ukraine’s efforts to export grain and other agricultural products to world markets and to the most vulnerable countries,” the Swedish government’s website quoted the Prime Minister as saying.
It is specified that since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Sweden has allocated more than SEK 28 billion for various efforts to support Ukraine.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonite announced an additional EUR 2 million at the summit. Another EUR 3 million was provided by Finland.
Following the summit, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that last year, the Grain from Ukraine program managed to attract about $180 million, while this year it has raised more than $100 million.
“This is support for other countries and support for Ukrainian exports and farmers. This is very important. I think we will be able to double this figure,” the President of Ukraine said.
The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) is launching a project to develop a roadmap for Ukraine to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, said Bernardas Padegimas, head of the institute’s environmental policy and strategy team.
“We will start actively working on the project, discussing it at different levels. The goal is to help Ukraine achieve climate neutrality through a green transition and recovery,” Padegimas said at the United for Justice United for Nature high-level international conference in Kyiv.
According to him, the project is funded by the Swedish government.
According to his presentation, the roadmap, in particular, should be developed by June 2025.
According to Padegimas, the roadmap will be followed by “the development of a number of specific projects with the participation of specific donors,” and this process is scheduled to be completed in March 2026.
Padegimas noted that the development of a roadmap for Ukraine will be based on the principles of green transition adopted in Europe, and it will contain Ukraine’s goals and mechanisms for achieving them in the short, medium, and long term.
He added that many experts will be involved in the development of the map, particularly in the area of “green” development.
As reported, the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, speaking at the international conference “United for justice. United for nature”, said that Ukraine’s plan to restore the environment affected by Russia’s full-scale aggression should be reflected in a resolution of the UN General Assembly.
At the same conference, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets noted that law enforcement agencies are investigating more than 2,500 crimes against the environment as a result of Russia’s military aggression, with total environmental damage amounting to EUR 55 billion.
Sweden will provide Ukraine with a new military aid package worth 2.2 billion kronor (approximately $199 million), which will consist mainly of ammunition and spare parts for previously transferred systems, Reuters reports, citing a statement by Swedish Defense Minister Paul Johnson.
In addition, according to the minister, the Swedish government has instructed the armed forces to analyze whether Sweden will be able to transfer Jas Gripen fighters to Ukraine.
It is noted that the new aid package will be the 14th since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with the total amount of aid from Sweden amounting to more than 22 billion kronor (about $2 billion).
The Swedish government is proposing to allocate SEK333 million (about $30 million at the current exchange rate) for special export credit guarantees for companies trading with Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy announced on Tuesday.
According to the release, Swedish officials have included the relevant initiative in the draft budget for 2024, and the document is awaiting approval.
“The fact that Sweden will insure against risks in Ukraine starting next year is an important signal. This means that the investment insurance market in our country, despite all the security challenges, is starting to work. We are very grateful to the Swedish government and hope that this decision will be supported by the Riksdag,” First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko said.
The ministry clarified that the guarantees will be covered by the Swedish Export Credit Agency. They will apply to exports by Swedish companies of goods that can be classified as development assistance and will be applied to transactions for up to three years, but no later than the end of 2026.
The Ministry of Economy reminded that earlier, the export credit agencies of Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Japan had already confirmed their participation in political risk insurance for their companies’ operations in Ukraine. The Polish state-owned Export Credit Insurance Corporation (KUKE) is also ready to insure Ukrainian and international investors.
The Swedish government will soon instruct the Armed Forces to study the possibility of transferring Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine, Swedish radio Ekot reports, citing its own sources.
“The government will soon instruct the Swedish Armed Forces to study the conditions for sending Gripen aircraft to Ukraine. Among other things, the government wants to get information on how the transfer will affect Sweden’s defense capabilities and how quickly Sweden will be able to receive new Gripen aircraft as compensation,” the radio said in a statement on its website on Tuesday.
As noted, another issue that needs to be assessed by the Swedish government is whether Ukrainian pilots and other ground personnel should be trained.
Sweden’s JAS 39 Gripen is a fourth-generation multi-role fighter jet. Formally, it belongs to the class of fighter jets, but it was conceived as a multi-purpose universal aircraft capable of performing various tasks.
In August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian pilots had begun training on the JAS 39 Gripen fighter jet. Zelenskyy also informed about negotiations with the Swedish government to provide Ukraine with these aircraft.
Later, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that the country needed the planes for its own defense, as the country’s application to join the Alliance had not yet been finalized. At the same time, he did not rule out the transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine in the future.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky together with his wife Olena Zelensky went on a working visit to Sweden.
“Working visit together with the first lady to Sweden. Meetings with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, King Carl XVI, Queen Silvia, Speaker Andreas Norlen and heads of parliamentary parties. Extensive Ukrainian-Swedish talks. I will personally thank Sweden for the support of our struggle for freedom and independence,” – said the head of state in his Telegram.
As the President noted, the primary task of the visit is to strengthen Ukrainian soldiers on the ground and in the sky, the development of bilateral cooperation, in particular in the defense industry, European integration of Ukraine and common security in the Euro-Atlantic space, as well as Sweden’s full support for Ukraine on its way to NATO.
“We are confident that together we will guarantee reliable peace in the entire Baltic-Black Sea-Azov region,” Zelensky wrote.
