Minister Ville Tavio in Kyiv: Finland strongly supports construction of civil defence shelters in Ukraine

The inauguration of the civil defence coalition co-led by Ukraine and Finland will take place in Kyiv on 27 November. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will attend the inauguration to announce Finland’s EUR 11 million funding for constructing civil defence shelters. Finland has earlier confirmed approximately EUR two million in funding for the bilateral project, which makes Finland’s total support to Ukrainian civil defence sector about EUR 13 million. 

In Kyiv, Minister Tavio will sign a memorandum of understanding with five other countries that are joining the coalition at an early stage. Certain international financial institutions are also looking to collaborate with the coalition and intend to join, which will increase both the overall budget and the effectiveness of cooperation.

- Ukraine asked Finland to lead the civil defence coalition because we have strong civil defence expertise in both the public and private sectors. During my visit, I will discuss with Ukrainian decision-makers and bring together Finnish companies and Ukrainian responsible parties, Minister Tavio says.

Director General for Rescue Services Kimmo Kohvakka from the Ministry of the Interior will also be part of Minister Tavio’s delegation. The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for the implementation of the bilateral project between Finland and Ukraine and will make Finland’s civil defence expertise available to the coalition. The bilateral project aims to support Ukraine in developing its civil defence system and to provide strategic and technical support to the wider coalition. 

During Russia’s war of aggression, civilian buildings, schools and healthcare facilities have repeatedly been targeted by attacks. Currently half of Ukraine’s population is without access to civil defence shelters, and an enormous number of additional shelters are needed for purposes such as delivering contact teaching for pupils. The coalition will help Ukraine launch this long-term effort with grant-based funding and a construction roadmap that will later enable Ukraine to continue construction with loans and blended financing. 

Minister Tavio will also visit a Ukrainian school to learn about progress in the school meals reform supported by Finland and about expectations for the new comprehensive reform of general upper secondary education. The Minister will be introduced to the reconstruction activities of the Finnish company Peikko, and he will also visit the premises of the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center (UHMC), which has cooperation with Finnish agencies. As part of the cooperation between the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the UHMC, Ukraine joined the European weather observation system and successfully carried out major reforms to its own weather observation system. Cooperation has resulted in Ukraine purchasing equipment from Finland using its own financing and made it possible to continue business cooperation with FUIF funding.

Inquiries: 
Tuomas Tähti, Special Adviser to Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, tel. +358 295 350 199, Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Anu Pulkkinen, Director, tel. +358 295 350 802, Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Pauliina Eskola, Director of Rescue Services, Accident Prevention and International Cooperation, tel. +358 295 488 263, Ministry of the Interior 

The email addresses of the ministries are in the format [email protected].