Since the beginning of russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, Finland has been actively supporting our country in the humanitarian, military, and financial spheres. In particular, in April 2024, Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Alexander Stubb signed a bilateral security agreement that will provide for Finland’s long-term support to Ukraine and generally deepen cooperation between the countries.
Finland is committed to supporting Ukraine in our fight against russia’s unjustified attack. The Nordic country is one of the world’s largest donors of military aid to Ukraine, and its financial support has been steadily increasing since the beginning of the full-scale war. The amount of assistance to Ukraine has already reached €3 billion, of which €2 billion was used to purchase defense equipment, and another billion was spent on the development of our country. Finland currently allocates about 0.25% of its GDP to help Ukraine and is currently discussing the parameters of its long-term support for the Ukrainian people.
At the same time, the Republic of Finland is involved in demining the territory of Ukraine, including humanitarian demining, and supports the development of the capacity of Ukrainian actors in this area. So far, the country has allocated €7.25 million for mine action in Ukraine, starting in 2022.
As part of its humanitarian aid, Helsinki has provided Ukraine with about 300 trucks, 76 vehicles, including rescue vehicles and school buses, worth approximately €20 million. It has also sent experts in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear safety to perform war-related tasks.
Since the beginning of the war, the Nordic country has provided Ukraine with 24 packages of military aid. Along with weapons stocks (military equipment, air defense systems, large-caliber artillery ammunition) Finland sends to Ukraine the latest innovative military equipment, some of which is still under development.
Finnish military instructors have already trained thousands of Ukrainian soldiers to full combat readiness. Most of these exercises took place as part of EU- and UK-led operations, but some were also held on Finnish territory. Finnish instructors taught Ukrainian military personnel in various areas of training, from basic to special forces.
It should be noted that in addition to military assistance, the Government of Finland supports most European initiatives aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s defense capabilities. Thus, the country provides financial support to the Czech initiative to purchase artillery shells in the amount of €30 million. It also finances the Polish initiative to supply armored vehicles to Ukraine. The country also participates in the information technology coalition led by Estonia and Luxembourg.
Helsinki will help Ukraine rebuild its energy sector, assess environmental damage, and strengthen border and critical infrastructure protection.
Developing mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation also remains an important priority for the two countries. The analysis of export and import operations of Dnipropetrovsk region with Finland demonstrates a high level of partnership, as Finland is an important trading partner of the region.
According to the results of 2023, the volume of exports of goods from Dnipropetrovsk region amounted to $7.2 million. Among the goods in demand among Finnish consumers are natural and artificial fur, ferrous metals and ferrous metal products, machinery and equipment, etc.
Export operations were carried out by 17 companies from Dnipropetrovsk region. The main exporting companies are enterprises of the metallurgical complex, processing industry, agricultural and machine-building enterprises.
Top 5 exporting companies (ranked by export volume):
Imports of goods from Finland to Dnipropetrovsk region amounted to $24.5 million and increased by 0.8% compared to 2022. Traditionally, Dnipropetrovsk region purchased paper and cardboard, fertilizers, oil and oil products, pharmaceuticals, fish and crustaceans, and other goods.
Import operations were carried out by 60 importers.
TOP-5 importers (ranked by volume of imported products):
Imports were mainly carried out by trade, pharmaceutical, processing, and food companies.
Source: information for the article was taken from open online sources
