The Federal Government is providing another €88.5 million for the European Energy Community. €54.3 million of this is coming from the budget of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and €34.2 million from the Federal Foreign Office. This is in response to Russia’s continuation of its airborne attacks against Ukrainian energy infrastructure into the second winter of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

The Energy Support Fund is used by Ukraine to finance the purchase of fuel, spare parts and equipment like transformers and generators which help to maintain Ukraine’s energy supply. Ukrainian energy companies can use them to repair destroyed transformer stations and power plants in order to uphold the supply of electricity and heat to the population. Some of the funding is earmarked for green energy transition projects such as photovoltaic systems on public buildings and the green reconstruction of Ukraine.

By the end of last year, the Federal Government had already paid €129.5 million into the Energy Support Fund. This means that the total German contribution now rises to €218 million. Germany continues to be easily the largest donor to the fund, which has collected some €400 million since February 2022. The European Energy Community organises the bidding procedures for the goods to be purchased, and monitors the use of the funding.

The contributions to the Energy Support Fund form part of this year’s €1.6 billion-plus winter package of the Federal Government for Ukraine. The money is also going towards military contributions to air defence, development assistance and humanitarian aid.