Lithuania allocates EUR 5 mln for solar power plants in Ukraine

VILNIUS - Lithuania allocated 5 million euros for the installation of solar power plants in Ukraine after the Lithuanian government on Wednesday approved a support program for Ukraine's energy sector.

The equipment for the solar power plants will have to be reliable and protected against cyber attacks, and will therefore have to be made in Europe, Rasa Kairiene, the head of the Foreign Ministry's Development Cooperation Department, said.

"When selecting solar power plants, we have to ensure the reliability of the equipment to be installed and the cyber security aspects so as not to create additional dependencies on Ukraine. So, during the procurement process, we will try to include this requirement that the equipment needs to be originally from the EU or the European economy," she told ministers on Wednesday.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Ukraine's energy production capacity has more than halved since the start of Russia's large-scale invasion in February 2022.

Lithuania's total support to Ukraine will reach 1.45 billion euros by the end of this year, the Foreign Ministry said.