14 containers of humanitarian aid to Ukraine to set sail this afternoon

The Republic of Cyprus is sending a total of 14 large containers of humanitarian aid to Ukrainian, with the Minister of Transport Yiannis Karousos and the Citizen's Commissioner Panagiotis Sentonas expressing their gratitude to the citizens and all the departments involved for the collection, packing and shipping of the goods.

Yiannis Karousos and Panagiotis Sentonas met in the morning at the port of Limassol where at around noon today 14 40-foot containers were loaded on the merchant ship Lider Trabzon, a Panamanian flagged vessel that will travel to Thessaloniki and from there by road to its final destination.

In his statements, the Minister of Transport, Yiannis Karousos, reminded everyone that "this is an initiative that was launched following the instructions of the President of the Republic and coordination was undertaken by the Citizen's Commissioner, along with other Ministries that provided the necessary humanitarian assistance".

"Today," he continued, "14 containers containing medical equipment, food, essential items and Civil Protection material, which were transported by the National Guard to the port and received by the Cyprus Port Authority, will depart for Ukraine".

Mr. Karousos thanked all those who participated in this effort, "I thank the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Defense, the volunteers of the Civil Defense, the Citizen's Commissioner, and the Port Authority and its President for the successful outcome of this cooperation".

The humanitarian aid will be delivered soon, he said, adding that "as soon as the containers arrive in Thessaloniki, they will immediately be forwarded to centers set up by the EU Civil Protection Agency".

For his part, the Citizen's Commissioner, Panagiotis Sentonas, stated that through this great humanitarian aid, the Cypriot citizens have shown their solidarity with the Ukrainian people, adding that the large volume that was collected in the 40 collection centers throughout Cyprus was received by the National Guard and brought to the port of Limassol where the Port Authority undertook the preparation of the material for shipment.

He noted that the centers are still open for the collection of dry food and the special account, which was created with the instructions of President Anastasiadis, remains in operation, "so those who wish to offer, can do so in the coming days."

He also thanked the Cyprus Red Cross, which sent personal hygiene kits for children and adults, as well as the pharmaceutical company Medochemie, which had donated over half a million euros worth of medical equipment to the Ukrainian authorities.

The Spokeswoman for the Civil Defense department, Olivia Michailidou, stated that "We were informed about requests submitted from the Ukrainian side through the European Civil Protection Agency and, in turn, we informed all state services and bodies about their needs in order to collect items that are absolutely necessary".

The President of the Cyprus Ports Authority, Antonis Stylianou, thanked the people of Cyprus "who have generously offered the greatest humanitarian aid ever sent in the history of the Republic of Cyprus".  He also thanked all those involved in the ports area for their efforts.

The ship is scheduled to depart later this afternoon.