Norway will allocate $242 million to Ukraine to strengthen maritime defense

Norway will provide Ukraine with funds to strengthen Ukraine's maritime defense. Photo: Naval Forces of Ukraine AFU

Norway will allocate 2.7 billion Norwegian kroner (over 242 million US dollars) to strengthen Ukraine's maritime defense.

This is reported on the website of the Norwegian government.

Among other things, the support includes equipment transferred after purchases from industry. Part of the funding will go to systems that can be used for demining. Funds are also provided for training of the Ukrainian military.

«Ukraine needs additional support to further weaken Russian naval forces in the Black Sea. It is necessary to protect the Ukrainian population and infrastructure from attacks by the Russian Black Sea Fleet. It is also important to protect the export of grain and other goods by sea, which provides important income for Ukraine,» said the country's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

According to the Norwegian Minister of Defense, mines are a serious problem for the safe movement of ships and traffic in the Black Sea, and mine clearance measures are necessary, so the systems that will arrive in Ukraine will allow them to better detect and neutralize mines along their own coast.

Most of the funds will go to efforts within the Innovation and Autonomy in the Maritime Capabilities Coalition.

Recall that in November, Norway announced the allocation of $45 million (500 million kroner) for the production of weapons and military equipment by Ukrainian enterprises.