Taiwan pledges US$5 million aid for medical facility renovation in Ukraine

Taipei, Dec. 28 (CNA) Taiwan's government has pledged to provide US$5 million in funding for the renovation of a medical building providing post-surgery rehabilitation services in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

In a news release issued on Saturday, MOFA said Taiwan's government would finance the renovation of a rehabilitation building at the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center in Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine.

Once the planned renovation is completed, the building will be renamed the "Taiwan Friendship Building," the release said.

To facilitate the aid, representatives from the Taipei Representative Office in Poland, the Lviv City Government and UNBROKEN virtually signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Friday, the release said.

Taiwan's Deputy Foreign Minister François Wu (吳志中), who was present at the signing ceremony, said Taiwan's government will continue to collaborate with the Lviv city government and assist in Ukraine's efforts to forge ahead in times of difficulty.

Meanwhile, Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovyi, who is currently in Taiwan for a five-day visit, thanked Taiwan for its generosity and noted that such aid would further benefit wounded people in Ukraine.

The latest financial support pledged by Taipei followed the provision of US$800,000 in donations to the Multidisciplinary Clinical Hospital of Emergency and Intensive Care in Lviv, which is now part of the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center, in 2022.

The US$800,000 in donations were part of aid provided by Taiwan's government as of the first half of 2022 to seven Ukrainian hospitals totaling US$5.8 million, according to MOFA.

Lviv has become a hub for treating and rehabilitating injured military personnel and civilians since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

More than 16,000 injured Ukrainians, including children, have been treated at UNBROKEN since then, the center says on its website.

Sadovyi and his delegation arrived in Taiwan on Thursday and will stay until Monday.

On Friday, the group also attended a luncheon hosted by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) where the two sides discussed the ongoing war and the prospect of the eastern European nation, as well as opportunities for more exchanges between Ukraine and Taiwan, according to the MOFA release.