Address by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal

I greet everyone, dear colleagues, fellow Ukrainians.

We are starting a regular session of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

I will start with words of gratitude to our soldiers who are fighting to defend us and expel the enemy from Ukrainian soil. We will do our best to ensure our defense forces feel that the rear is protected and the army is provided with all the required resources.

The Government, along with the rest of the country, continues to work and build a

new economy of the Great War.

We have a number of critical decisions today to support the people and, of course, to support the army.

First. Food security. The program of free distribution of food packages in frontline cities has triggered. Almost 200,000 such packages with food and hygienic products have already been distributed - most in Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions.

In total, we will pack almost 12 million such packages. 133,000 tons of products to the tune of almost UAH 4 billion have already been procured. The most of the products we buy is from Ukrainian manufacturers. We load Ukrainian enterprises with orders. We prop up every business, every entrepreneur as much as we can.

In the light of current situation, food chains have in fact become objects of critical infrastructure. The Government is working closely with such networks to secure that all towns and villages have food, social goods and basic necessities. We understand that stores are now facing many force majeure situations and problems. That's why we will provide support.

We adopt a resolution that allows retail chains to attract soft loans of up to UAH 1 billion for a period of 1 year at 5% per annum. This will enable us to replenish working capital, not close stores and pay for products to Ukrainian manufacturers timely.

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Over the past few days, Ukrainian troops have liberated Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions from the occupiers. The whole world could see hundreds of killed and tortured Ukrainians, almost completely destroyed cities, almost completely destroyed critical infrastructure. Our mission is to regain life in these areas to the extent possible.

We are working to restore the electricity and water supplies to all these settlements, and to give shelter to people who have lost their homes. We adopt a number of decisions in this direction.

The first applies to the inspection of damaged buildings. It is critical to form a comprehensive picture of what can be restored and what is beyond. Today we will endorse a mechanism of such assessment.

The second - simultaneously with the damage assessment, Ukrzaliznytsia will purchase construction materials for further delivery to the reconstruction areas. We will immediately carry out restoration work where possible. We will help the cities and villages that have survived this horror.

Third. Critical infrastructure was severely damaged. In particular, gas pipelines, transmission lines, water supply infrastructure. Naftogaz Group will help finance the restoration of such infrastructure. The company will be disbursed a loan of UAH 4.5 billion through the Oschadbank. It will also allow Naftogaz to purchase natural gas, ensure its further production, pay taxes and dividends to the budget.

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Regarding the implementation of the program to support internally displaced persons. Three directions: money, housing, work. Let me remind you that the state will pay UAH 2,000 a month for an adult and UAH 3,000 for a child to those who have officially registered as a displaced person. International organizations, including UNICEF, are joining governmental initiatives to support IDPs. The organization will help the most vulnerable categories of the population and will pay people extra money. Multichildren families with babies, families having children with disabilities will receive UAH 2,200 for each member of such a family. We are working to ensure that the application for UNICEF assistance can be submitted through the Diia mechanism.

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Definitely, the key direction of the Government's activities remains the financial and organizational support of the Ukrainian army.

Today we adopt a decision to allocate funds from the reserve fund to the Ministry of Defense and the Security Service of Ukraine. These is the resource for salaries, equipment, weapons, fuel and everything necessary for our defenders. The core resources of the state and the budget are now directed to these needs.

Another important organizational area is the procedure for sending injured personnel for treatment abroad.

Several states have simultaneously offered their free assistance in the treatment and rehabilitation of our military and civilians as well. We thank our partners for such support! Today we endorse a document that will help to quickly and correctly organize the whole process.

We are grateful to all our defenders for your courage and resilience. You are real heroes of the Ukrainian people. Glory to our heroes! Glory to Ukraine!