Norway has announced that it will provide 2.7 billion kroner (around 233 million euros) to strengthen the Ukrainian navy. A large part of the funds will be channelled through the Maritime Capability Coalition (MCC), which Norway and the UK launched in 2023. Marineforum reported on 14.12.2023: Aid for Ukraine: alliance to rebuild naval forces.
The aim is to make the Ukrainian navy more compatible with its western allies and to help it defend against Russian naval forces in the Black Sea, a government representative said. It is also important to protect exports of grain and other products by sea, which provide Ukraine with important revenues, he added.
The current support includes supplies from the Norwegian Defence Forces as well as military equipment, which will be procured by industry and then transferred to Ukraine free of charge. The funds will also be used for mine clearance projects and the training of Ukrainian soldiers to detect and defuse mines along the Ukrainian coast, the Norwegian defence minister said in a statement.
Flag of the Ukrainian naval forces. Graphic: CC BY-SA 3.0
Norway's long-term national support for Ukraine runs via the so-called Nansen Support Programme. It will be extended for a further three years until 2030 and, according to the government, will total at least 154.5 billion kroner (13.2 billion euros).
Following the Russian annexation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014, Ukraine lost the majority of its ships. After the start of the Russian war of aggression in 2022, there were further losses, including the self-sinking of the flagship "Hetman Sahajdatschnyj" to prevent this frigate from falling into the hands of the Russian navy.
See Marine Forum report from 07/03/2022: Ukraine has sunk its flagship in the harbour
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