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France Commits Additional $75 Million to Ukraine’s Critical Infrastructure Fund
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France will provide an additional $75 million to back projects carried out in Ukraine through the Critical Infrastructure Support Fund.
The announcement was made by Ukraine’s Minister of Economy Oleksii Sobolev and cited by Ukrinform on February 3.
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Speaking after a session of the Ukrainian-French intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation, Sobolev said that the initial grant agreement between France and Ukraine on critical infrastructure support allocated $215 million to fund 19 selected projects across multiple sectors.
“Today, the continuation of this project was announced. This involves an additional €70 million ($75 million), which is expected to arrive in mid-2026 and will help many companies continue operating,” Sobolev said.
He added that the competitive selection process for new projects is expected to start in mid-February.
During the meeting, French and Ukrainian companies also signed several bilateral memorandums of intent outlining future cooperation. These agreements focus on production localization and technology transfers aimed at manufacturing goods in Ukraine.
“These include memorandums on the integration of AI solutions, virtual platforms for drones, the development of new aerial platforms based on experience gained in Ukraine, strengthening humanitarian demining capabilities, cooperation in the agricultural sector, and in satellite internet, among others,” the minister said.
The same day, Kharkiv endured more than three hours of continuous Russian attacks with strikes deliberately aimed at the city’s energy infrastructure amid subzero temperatures, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
According to Terekhov, the assaults were intended to cause maximum damage and leave the city without heating during severe frost. In response, city authorities are preparing what he described as an emergency and difficult decision: draining the heat carrier from the heating system of 820 apartment buildings supplied by one of Kharkiv’s largest thermal power plants.
He said the step is necessary to prevent the heating network from freezing completely, as unprecedented damage to critical infrastructure has left the city with no technical alternatives.
Earlier, Russia carried out a massive, multi-stage assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the coldest nights of the winter, striking heat and power facilities in eight regions and cutting heating for hundreds of thousands of civilians as temperatures dropped to around −25°C (−13°F).
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