From the very beginning of the Russian military aggression, the Kingdom of Norway has been providing invaluable and very important assistance to Ukraine – defense, political, humanitarian.

On July 1, Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Har Stere visited Ukraine, met with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and visited Ukrainian cities destroyed by Russia. Jonas Gar Stere expressed solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in the struggle for independence and noted that this is a struggle not only for Ukraine, but also for the fundamental principles on which Europe and the whole world are built. The Prime Minister of Norway also assured that the Scandinavian state will be with Ukraine until Victory. According to him, by the end of the year, Norway will provide our country with support in the amount of €1 billion to help people who need it, as well as for post-war reconstruction.

After the information about the crimes of the Russian military against the civilian population in Bucha and other cities and villages, that were under occupation, appeared, a number of European countries expelled from several to dozens of Russian diplomats and embassies. Norway, which announced the expulsion of three Russian diplomats from its embassy in Oslo, was no exception.

In addition, Norway condemned Russia’s use of the UN Security Council to spread disinformation. This was stated by the Deputy Permanent Representative of Norway to this organization, Trime Heimerbek, during a meeting of the UN Security Council. “We reject the Russian Federation’s use of the Security Council as a platform for disinformation. There is no doubt that security in and around the ZNPP has deteriorated due to the presence of an armed aggressor,” Heimerbek said.

The Norwegian government has decided to join the EU sanctions and close the land border to trucks from the Russian Federation, and the ports to Russian ships.

Ukraine received from Norway €20.5 million in non-repayable grant funds from the World Bank’s trust fund. The funds were provided as part of the first amendments to the Donor Trust Fund Grant Agreement.

Currently, the Government of Norway has decided to provide Ukraine with a new, unprecedented aid package totaling more than €1 billion (NOK 10 billion). The funds will be distributed in four main areas: defense assistance, critical humanitarian needs, budgetary support and post-war reconstruction, in particular, for the reconstruction of cities and towns destroyed as a result of Russian aggression.

Private initiatives of Norwegian citizens made a significant contribution. The Veteran Aid Ukraine organization raised funds for Ukrainians: thanks to their efforts, two Aeryon SkyRanger R60 VTOL UAVs have already left for Ukraine. In March, members of the organization came to Ukraine with humanitarian aid – these are products for children, blankets and canned goods, as well as a generator for a hospital in Lviv.

Since the beginning of the war, Norway has sheltered about 17 thousand Ukrainians on its territory, where they can engage in professional activities, work, receive housing and medical care.

The Kingdom of Norway also provided significant military aid to our state. The country transferred to the Armed Forces – 22 units of self-propelled artillery installations M109 with equipment, spare parts and ammunition, 14 lightly armored vehicles IVECO LAV III, 4 thousand, units of anti-tank weapons M72, anti-aircraft missile systems “Mistral”, 1,500 body armor, 5 thousand helmets, 15 thousand field rations, and other equipment. It should be noted that previously Norway did not supply weapons and ammunition to conflict zones, which was established by a decision of the parliament from 1959.

Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Aril Gram announced that his country will join a large-scale training program for Ukrainian servicemen in Great Britain. The country will send its instructors for basic training of the Ukrainian military.

Norway has taken the lead in the supply of natural gas to Europe, displacing Russia, which is reducing supplies to EU countries. Official forecasts indicate that Norway intends to increase natural gas production by 8% compared to 2021. And accordingly break the record of five years ago. The Norwegian government, together with representatives of mining companies, is considering the issue of supplying natural gas to Ukraine.

The development of mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation remains an important priority of the two countries.

The analysis of export and import transactions of Dnipropetrovsk region with Norway demonstrates a high level of partnership relations, because the specified state is an important trade and investment partner of the region.

According to the results of 2021, the volume of export of goods from Dnipropetrovsk region decreased by 21% ($1.5 million), which was 3.7% of the volume of Ukraine to Norway. Among the goods that have the greatest demand among Norwegian consumers are parts for railway locomotives, plastics and polymeric materials, ferrous metals, etc.

Export operations were carried out by 16 enterprises of exporters from the Dnipropetrovsk region.

The main exporting companies are enterprises of the metallurgical complex, agro-industrial complex and processing industry.

TOP-5 exporting enterprises (ranking by volume of export products):

The import of goods from Norway to Dnipropetrovsk region amounted to $13.1 million (3.4% of Ukraine’s imports from Norway) and increased by 5.6% compared to 2020. Dnipropetrovsk region bought the most fish and crustaceans, machines and equipment, nickel and nickel products, fertilizers, plastics, and others.

Import operations were carried out by 42 enterprises of the importer.

TOP-5 enterprises of importers (ranking by volume of imported products):

Among the promising directions for export to Norway are products of the metallurgical complex, equipment for railway locomotives, organic products of the agricultural sector and goods of light industry from natural materials.