EU coordinates delivery of over 60,000 tonnes of life-saving equipment worth over 425 mln euros to Ukraine

BRUSSELS. Aug 11 (Interfax) - The European Union has coordinated the delivery of over 60,000 tonnes of life-saving assistance worth over 425 million euros to Ukraine to respond to emergencies.

The European Commission reported on Thursday that the EU has coordinated the delivery of 66,224 tonnes of in-kind assistance to Ukraine from 30 countries via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. "The assistance delivered includes 180 ambulances, 125 fire-fighting vehicles, 300 power generators, 35 heavy machinery vehicles, and 4 pontoon bridges. This is by far the largest, longest lasting and most complex operation via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism since it was established in 2001, with an estimated value so far of over 425 million euros," it said.

In support of this operation, logistics hubs have been set up in Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, from where assistance is then channeled directly to Ukraine, it said.

"By providing emergency assistance, we can at least ease the immense pressure on Ukraine's emergency response systems. Today we have reached an important milestone - over 60,000 tonnes of in-kind assistance coordinated via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism has arrived in Ukraine," the European Commission quoted Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic as saying.

Lenarcic thanked every EU member state in general and Norway, Turkey, and North Macedonia in particular for "having offered help that we have then channeled most effectively through the Mechanism."