Slovenia, like the other EU countries, supported Ukraine in the war against Russia. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the country has been allocating the most funds to the humanitarian sector and is constantly looking for new opportunities to support Ukraine, not only in the humanitarian sphere, but also in the areas of humanitarian demining, medicine and rehabilitation of war victims, decentralisation reform and strengthening of local communities.

On June 28, 2024 the President of Slovenia, Natasha Pirc Musar, visited Kyiv at the invitation of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Both Presidents paid tribute to the defenders of Ukraine who laid down their lives for the country at Mykhailivska Square in Kyiv and then held a meeting. During the meeting, the President of Slovenia said that her Government had approved an additional €5 million for the humanitarian needs of Ukraine and would continue to provide military assistance..

Since the beginning of the military aggression of russia against Ukraine, Slovenia has provided the Ukrainian Defence Forces with a significant amount of armoured vehicles, including M-55S tanks, M80A infantry fighting vehicles, and HMMWV. In addition to the equipment, a significant amount of infantry small arms and heavy weapons was also provided. These include machine guns, assault rifles, twin 20 mm Zastava M55 anti-aircraft guns and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Since the beginning of 2024, Slovenia has also transferred armoured vehicles, namely: 26 BOV wheeled armoured vehicles, six of which were armed with 20 mm M55A4B1 cannons and the other 20 with 12.7 mm machine guns. At the same time, our defence forces received a batch of unmanned aerial vehicles from a Slovenian manufacturer..

Slovenia joined the declaration of the G7 states on supporting security guarantees for Ukraine. It has also recently joined the Czech initiative to purchase artillery ammunition for Ukraine, having allocated €1 million.

At the end of the last year, the Czech government also allocated €1.5 million for humanitarian demining in Ukraine. These funds will help provide sappers of the State Emergency Service and the State Special Transport Service with necessary personal protective equipment, demining equipment and machinery. At the same time, they will help speed up the clearance of explosives from the territory of Ukraine and save the lives and health of many Ukrainians.

Last year, the Slovenian government decided to send about 30 of its representatives to the EU training mission for Ukrainian soldiers called EUMAM, with the possibility of rotation. The Republic of Slovenia provided €80,000 to a rehabilitation centre for Ukrainian soldiers who lost limbs.

Ukraine and Slovenia signed an intergovernmental memorandum that will provide comprehensive support to Ukrainian citizens, including children, temporarily staying in Slovenia because of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by russian troops. This document is a significant step towards strengthening cooperation between both countries in social sphere.

This summer, Slovenia hosted 50 children from Ukraine for a holiday in Strunjan. Children’s holidays are one of four projects that started at the end of June 2023 and are funded by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia for a total of €700,000 through a humanitarian strategic partnership with Caritas Slovenia. Another two projects will contribute to basic humanitarian and psychosocial assistance, and the fourth is dedicated to the completion of a house for young people with disabilities. Their total cost is €750.5 thousand, with Slovenian Caritas participating with a share of €50.5 thousand.

Together with new projects in 2023, our Slovenian partners have raised €4,196,455 for humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Most of the funds were contributed by individuals and more than 240 companies. The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia contributed €993,939 to this total aid through its humanitarian strategic partnership with Caritas Slovenia.

The Government of Slovenia donated €200,000 to Olena Zelenska Foundation for the reconstruction of the Central Hospital in Izyum, Kharkiv region. It also transferred a neonatal ambulance to a maternity hospital in Kyiv region.    

The development of mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation also remains an important priority for both countries. An analysis of export and import operations of Dnipropetrovsk region with Slovenia demonstrates a high level of partnership, as this country is an important trade partner of the region.

According to the results of 2023, the volume of exports of goods from Dnipropetrovsk region increased by 81.7% to $11.1 million despite the aggressive war of russia against Ukraine. Among the most popular products among Slovenian consumers are railway locomotive parts, ferrous metals and products made of them, sugar and sugar confectionery, paper and cardboard, etc.

Export operations were carried out by 20 companies from the Dnipropetrovsk region. The main exporters are metallurgical, processing and machine-building companies.

TOP-5 exporters (ranked by volume of exported products):

Imports of goods from Slovenia to Dnipropetrovsk region totalled $64.5 million and decreased by 11.3% compared to 2022. Traditionally, Dnipropetrovsk region purchased pharmaceuticals, food, various chemicals, ferrous metals, electrical machinery, etc.

Import operations were carried out by 73 importers.

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

Import operations were mainly carried out by pharmaceutical, trade, metallurgical, processing and machine-building companies.

Source: information for this article was taken from public online sources