Since the beginning of the full-scale military aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine, Belgium has been making great efforts to support Ukraine by providing significant financial, humanitarian and military assistance. The country fully supports our national aspirations for Europe, as well as Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Brussels’ main goal in this war is to help Ukraine get rid of an illegal occupation similar to the one Belgium faced during the World War II.

Last year, the Kingdom of Belgium provided €306 million in military aid to Ukraine. In 2023, the Belgian government decided to provide Ukraine with a new aid package. The total amount of financial assistance will be €92 million, and the source of these funds is tax revenues from russian financial assets frozen in Belgium. Half of this amount, €46 million, is earmarked for new military aid. Belgium will provide Ukraine with the following: AMRAAM missiles; light anti-tank weapons; anti-tank grenades and cannons; Minimi machine guns; Scar automatic rifles; vehicles, including light armoured vehicles; fuel.

In addition to military aid, Belgium will allocate €24 million to strengthen humanitarian aid in coordination with the UN, including education, healthcare and food security in large cities and in war zones.

Another €8 million is being allocated for Ukraine’s reconstruction through funds provided by the European Investment Bank and the World Bank. The remaining funds are planned to be used to reform and strengthen the Belgian diplomatic network in Ukraine, ensure the security of Ukraine’s strategic infrastructure (including its nuclear power plants), and to support the International Criminal Court’s fund for war victims.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Belgian army has trained 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers as part of EU military assistance programmes. Belgium is involved in training Ukrainian troops both in the country and abroad. Between 50 and 100 Belgian soldiers are involved in this work.

According to the decision of the Government of Belgium, six Ukrainian instructors and four mission planners will be trained in Belgium to further train Ukrainian pilots and other personnel on F-16 fighter jets. In addition, in coming weeks, the Belgian Ministry of Defence will send a group of military personnel to a training centre for Ukrainian F-16 pilots in Denmark. In 2024, Belgium will reportedly send two F-16B combat trainers to Denmark for advanced training, as well as a contingent of military and technical personnel responsible for the deployment of the fighters.

Belgium will hand over Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles purchased from Germany to Ukraine. In total, Belgium has purchased eight missiles for Ukraine, the cost of each missile is estimated at about €7,000. In addition to the missiles, the Government of Belgium plans to supply Ukraine with equipment worth €150 million. The new supply will be in addition to other projects to support Ukraine.

The Kingdom of Belgium will supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine with four Leopard 2 tanks and M113 tracked armoured personnel carriers, which the Belgian army has not used for more than a decade.

Belgium also plans to provide Ukraine with about 320 Volvo trucks and 80 Lynx armoured vehicles by the end of the year. So far, the country has delivered about 150 trucks of this type.

Thanks to the Belgian volunteer community, within the framework of the Ukraine Mission of Ihor Vitenko social project to support frontline medicine, four medical special vehicles were purchased and transferred to the frontline to transport wounded soldiers from the area of active hostilities. In total, 64 ambulances have been transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine through the Ukraine Mission of Ihor Vitenko social project. In addition, Belgium sent medical aid to Ukraine worth almost €3.5 million.

The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that it will provide Ukraine with urgent humanitarian aid to overcome the consequences of Russia’s blowing up of the Kakhovka HPP.  Ukraine will receive assistance through the government’s B-FAST mechanism, which is used to support foreign countries in crisis situations. To help people affected by the floods, B-FAST will provide shelter equipment (tents, mattresses, sleeping bags, jerry cans, hygiene kits) worth €350,000. In cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, it will provide medical equipment worth €1.6 million, including medicines, medical devices, drinking water storage tanks, and dry rations for evacuees. B-FAST will also purchase €1.5 million worth of generators and send them to the areas affected by the floods.

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 Belgium demonstrates a high level of partnership, as this country is an important commercial partner of the region.

Belgian companies are most interested in ferrous metals and products thereof, mineral fuels, seeds and oilseeds, electrical machinery, etc. The volume of exports of goods from Dnipropetrovsk region was $24.14 million, which decreased by 38% compared to 2021.

40 enterprises in the Dnipropetrovsk region exported their products to the Belgian market, including enterprises in the mining and metallurgy sector, processing industry and agriculture.

TOP 5 exporters of goods by export volume are the following:

Imports of goods from Belgium to Dnipropetrovsk region decreased by 48% compared to 2021 and amounted to $33.06 million.

129 importers in the region purchased the following goods from Belgium: medicines, plastics, machinery, equipment, plastics and polymers, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and other.

TOP 5 importers by volume of imported products are the following:

Imports were mainly carried out by pharmaceutical, trade, food and machine-building companies.

Source: information for the article was taken from open online sources