The Czech Republic’s initiative to purchase from third countries about 800,000 projectiles to be delivered to Ukraine has so far collected funds only for the first batch of 300,000 projectiles, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Friday, after the previous day The President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, said that funding for all 800,000 shells has been secured, Reuters and Agerpres report.
“Our goal is to deliver many more shells (…) Our work and our assistance to Ukraine does not end there. We continue to look for partners so that we can continue to support Ukraine in its courageous fight against the Russian aggressor,” said the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic in a message on the X platform, in which he reported that funding was received for only 300,000 shells. .
The Czech Republic has taken the lead in bulk procurement of shells for Ukraine’s army, which is facing an ammunition crisis after the EU delivered only about 30% of the million 155mm shells promised last March and US aid remains blocked. US Congress.
Sources for the rapid acquisition of around 500,000 155 mm shells and around 300,000 122 mm shells have been identified in non-EU countries, but there is still a need for EU and other countries to finance these purchases.
How much will 800,000 shells cost in total
President Petro Pavel, a former NATO general who is now one of the most active European politicians in supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia, said on Thursday that all the financing for this acquisition of the shells is provided by financial contributions offered by 18 countries and that “if there will be no fundamental problems, the ammunition will be able to be delivered to Ukraine in a few weeks.”
But the government in Prague is now clarifying this statement through information provided by the prime minister, an adviser to the government, clarifying in turn that full funding has not yet been secured, but also that no specific financial target has been set for the implementation of this initiative. .
According to the Financial Times, 800,000 shells will cost a total of approximately 1.5 billion dollars (1.38 billion euros).
On Thursday, Norway announced it would donate more than $150 million to the plan. Among the states that have also announced that they will make a financial contribution to this action are also the Netherlands with 100 million euros, Germany with at least 100 million euros, as well as France with an unspecified amount, other countries contributing are Belgium, Great Britain , Canada, Denmark, Lithuania or Sweden.
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Source: Hot News
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