European Commission to fund up to EUR 30 million LED bulbs for Ukrainians – Ursula von der Leyen

The European Commission will fund up to EUR 30 million to buy nearly 30 million LED bulbs, announced EU President Ursula von der Leyen at the “Energy Ramstein”.

“We have listened very carefully to the speech of President Zelensky, where he calls on international community to support the purchase of 50 million LED light bulbs for Ukrainian households. These LED light bulbs are so vital, because they are 88% more efficient than the old-fashioned light bulbs. So, an enormous saving of energy. 50 million LED light bulbs, if deployed, would save the energy that would amount to 1 GWatt of electricity, which is equivalent to the annual output of one nuclear power plant,” stated the EU president.

She called on other countries to join the funding of these light bulbs.

“We have provided 40 large generators to ensure uninterrupted power supply to hospitals in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv regions. These are the hospitals that need these generators. This comes on top of around 800 generators we are sending all across the country right now. And we all know that this kind of assistance can literally save lives,” informed Ursula von der Leyen.

“Energy Ramstein” in Paris

On December 13, Paris hosted the International Conference “Standing with the Ukrainian People”, or “Energy Ramstein”. The conference was attended by representatives of 46 countries and 24 international organizations. This is the first meeting of this format, similar to the original Ramstein, which is a meeting of allies on military support to Ukraine.

The purpose of the “Energy Ramstein” is to create a coordination mechanism for rebuilding Ukraine after Russia’s attacks on the country’s critical infrastructure and civilian objects.

The co-organizers are French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine, Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov led the Ukrainian delegation. First Lady Olena Zelenska also attended the conference.

The “Energy Ramstein” summit was gathered to help the Ukrainian people to “get through this winter,” stated Macron. He said that at President Zelensky’s request, representatives of many countries would gather at the Ramstein’s table in Paris, some of which “played a remote part at times and were not in the centre of providing support and aid” for Ukraine. They will discuss mobilization of power generators, and assistance in rebuilding infrastructure and power facilities.

“Very practical things will be discussed, because the goal of the Russian attacks after a series of failures is to plunge the Ukrainian people in despair, namely attack civilian infrastructure, cut off water, power supply and immerse the people in darkness and cold. We will mobilise today to help resist,” added Macron.

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