Sweden provides $133 mln in support for Ukrainian population amid winter

MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) - Sweden is providing Ukraine with 1.4 billion kronor (around $133 million) to be used, in particular, to support the Ukrainian population during the winter period.

The new package has been announced by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell, Ukrainian media have reported with reference to the website of the Swedish public broadcaster SVT.

"It has been the largest amount of support so far as part of Sweden's bilateral aid for Ukraine," Kristersson said at a press conference.

Most of the money, 900 million Swedish kronor, will go to the World Bank's Ukraine recovery fund set up to support Ukraine's energy, housing, healthcare, and transport infrastructure. In addition, this money taken from Sweden's aid fund will finance the procurement of heating and power transmission equipment, which is precisely what Ukraine requested from Sweden, Forssell said.

Kristersson warned of possible implications if the European Union countries fail to agree on an extended long-term budget at a summit in Brussels later this week. "I still hope everything will work out. I'd like to emphasize, however, that we are not talking about the usual European disagreements that we have sometimes, because in that case, we'd only have to meet again later. If we fail to agree now, this would have huge consequences," he said.