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interceptors for Patriot — one hundred," Pistorius said.
Pistorius stated that the interceptors are offered as part of Germany's initiative to bolster Ukrainian air defence, which also includes Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway.
"32 of these interceptors have already been transferred in the last two days, and the remaining 68 will be provided in the coming weeks," the German minister added, assuring that the missiles would help "protect infrastructure and save lives in Ukraine."
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pointed out that Germany has provided billions of euros of military assistance to Ukraine since the start of the war two years ago in addition to billions more in humanitarian aid. He said that Ukraine will receive new air defence systems, including another Patriot air defence system, as well as missiles and ammunition in the coming "weeks and months".
The US is sending its second Patriot system from bases in Poland, where it has been safeguarding a rotational force of American troops scheduled to return to the US, the Kyiv Independent reports. Officials indicated that the system could be deployed to Ukraine's front lines within the next few days, pending any maintenance or modifications.
The new missile batteries will be more than welcome, but Ukraine remains at a serious disadvantage in the face of Russia’s missile strike capabilities and the new systems are a minimum required to provide some security.
"To cover Ukraine completely in the future, it is preferable to have 25 Patriot systems, with 6-8 batteries each," Zelenskiy said in April, although Bankova has been calling for a minimum of seven system at the moment cognisant that the EU allies have largely run out of spare Patriot systems and are reluctant to dip into their own strategic reserves.
2.8 EBRD plans for Ukraine
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is extending its support for Ukraine with new funding commitments. At the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) in Berlin on 11-12 June, the Bank signed multiple financing and pre-financing agreements, which bring the total EBRD financing deployed in wartime Ukraine to €4.5 billion.
The Bank has also mobilised new de-risking and risk-sharing tools from the European Union and other development organisations for over €600 million.
The EBRD, Ukraine’s largest institutional investor, has significantly increased its finance to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale war there, and aims to continue investing between €1.5 to 2 billion in the country annually.
EBRD shareholders have recently agreed to provide a €4 billion paid-in capital increase to enable the Bank to continue investing at these levels in wartime, with the potential for more investments when reconstruction starts.
Ukraine is now a candidate for European Union accession. But the Berlin
20 UKRAINE Country Report July 2024 www.intellinews.com