Press release: UK support for Ukraine reform

Boris Johnson discussed the contribution at the Ukraine Reform Conference – a year after the UK hosted the inaugural summit in London.

Since then, Ukraine has made great strides in tackling corruption and improving transparency across Ukrainian institutions, and important progress on decentralisation and healthcare reform.

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

“With Russia continuing its efforts to destabilise Ukraine, and the occupation of Crimea ongoing, Britain must help to lead the way on ensuring Ukraine has a bright, stable and prosperous future

“That’s why we continue to provide support, which will help Ukraine to build on the progress it has made since 2014 and on key reforms since the inaugural London Reform Conference last year

“We do all this because it is essential for Ukraine’s future security and prosperity, and because it is essential for upholding our European values, our security and our prosperity.”

The funding will provide practical support to strengthen Ukraine’s sovereignty and resilience, and ensure the reform momentum continues. It includes help for projects in Ukraine to bolster further reform across the country’s institutions, eliminate corruption, and increase independent oversight of state organisations.

The UK is already doing pioneering work in Ukraine to help tackle Russian disinformation. This includes support to Ukraine’s public broadcaster, a project to help Ukrainian schools to build resilience against disinformation, and funding for an NGO network across Europe to debunk fake media stories.

The Foreign Secretary also held talks with Danish foreign minister Anders Samuelsen while in Copenhagen.

NOTES:

Funding includes:

• £13.4 million on conflict, security and stability projects to bolster Ukrainian defence reform, promote peace-building, eliminate corruption and increase civilian oversight
• £11 million to support reform in Ukraine through the Good Governance Fund with a wide range of programmes to help Ukraine drive forward governance, economic and political reform. Through this, we are supporting key institutions like the Business Ombudsman and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau.
• £6 million in humanitarian aid.
• £5 million this year to help Ukraine counter Russian disinformation.

Further information

• Follow the Foreign Secretary on Twitter @BorisJohnson and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Twitter @foreignoffice and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn

[contact:193]