Estonia to send EUR 120,000 in humanitarian aid to Ukraine this week

Estonia is about to send humanitarian aid worth more than 120,000 euros, including generators, sleeping bags, camp beds and hospital beds to Ukraine this week.

In response to requests by Ukraine for humanitarian aid, Estonia has decided to provide humanitarian aid to persons displaced from the conflict region. The Estonian aid includes generators, heaters, an air conditioner, sleeping bags, camp beds and hospital beds, spokespeople for the Foreign Ministry in Tallinn said on Thursday. The value of the consignment is more than 120,000 euros.

A joint handover of aid from the European Union will take place in Dnepropetrovsk on Jan. 27. In addition to the Estonian aid also aid from Latvia, Germany, Finland and France will be handed over there.

A truck with the Estonian aid will start its journey to Ukraine on Friday. An expert from the Estonian Disaster Relief Team (EDRT), Peeter Eylandt, will head to Ukraine on Sunday to oversee the arrival and handover of the Estonian aid in Ukraine. For receipt of the EU aid and organization of its distribution an EU coordination team including EDRT expert Enn Eberg will be sent to Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Keit Pentus-Rosimannus said that easing the situation in Ukraine is the most important priority for Estonia in the provision of humanitarian aid this year. «The situation is difficult and the people fleeing from the conflict area in need of basic necessities. Of course we help as much as we can,» the minister said.

The humanitarian mission is financed by the Foreign Ministry from its budget for development cooperation and humanitarian aid.

In mid-January the European Commission's Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection turned to EU member states with a request to help the people of Ukraine cope with winter conditions.

Last year, the Foreign Ministry provided 515,000 euros in humanitarian aid to help the people who suffered in the Ukraine conflict and alleviate the humanitarian situation of internally displaced persons.