The Diplomat
The State Secretary for International Cooperation, Pilar Cancela, participated last week in the fifth Conference in Lugano (Switzerland) on the reconstruction of Ukraine, where she announced that Spain will contribute almost 250 million euros for the recovery of this country in sectors such as agriculture, food security, renewable energies and humanitarian work.
For two days, the Conference brought together senior representatives from different European countries who analyzed the current situation, needs and priorities in Ukraine and addressed the methods, priorities and principles of social, economic, environmental and infrastructural recovery after the damage and losses caused by the war.
During her intervention, Cancela explained the priorities of the Spanish Cooperation for the recovery of Ukraine in sectors such as livelihoods, agriculture and food security, the development of renewable energy sources that favor its autonomy and energy security, the continuity of humanitarian work “in line with the feminist approach of the Spanish Cooperation”, the identification of specific projects for the reconstruction of cultural heritage through the Spain-UNESCO heritage fund and the collaboration with international financial institutions for the reconstruction of key sectors and infrastructures.
From the financial point of view, and in view of the country’s most urgent recovery needs, she continued, Spain will contribute almost 250 million euros, which will be broken down as follows: 47.9 million euros in grants to the World Bank’s Peace Multi-Donor Trust Fund to provide direct budget support to Ukraine, 100 million euros from the Spanish Treasury in guarantees to the World Bank for direct loans to Ukraine, and 100 million euros from the Spanish Treasury in guarantees to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). This last item will be allocated, in turn, to two funds: 50 million for the Green Cities Project and 50 million for food security through the EBRD Crisis Response Facility.
Likewise, the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) and the Spanish local governments have expressed their commitment to the response and aid actions established by the Spanish Government, as well as to those agreed by the different international organizations in which it has a presence, both present and future, also in view of the reconstruction scenario.
Since the Russian aggression began, the European Union has mobilized around 4 billion euros for economic, social and financial resilience, in the form of macro-financial assistance, budget support, emergency assistance, crisis response and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and a new line of exceptional financial aid is planned for 2022 of up to 9 billion euros.
Spain, according to Cancela, deployed the largest humanitarian aid package it has ever approved for a single context, allocating €34 million for humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians both inside and outside their country’s borders. Given the possibility that this situation could be prolonged, the State Secretary assured, Spain will continue to provide humanitarian aid. “Spain looks to the future of Ukraine, a prosperous, free and independent Ukraine,” she said. “The challenge is considerable, but based on our unity and solidarity we will be able to overcome it: only a prosperous and secure Ukraine will be a guarantee of international stability and security,” she concluded.
