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German company Saarstahl is supplying 20,000 tons of railway tracks to Ukraine from two French factories.

The delivery from the Hayange plant in Lorraine and the Ascoval plant in northern France has now begun and should enable the reconstruction of 150 kilometres of war-damaged lines, the French Ministry of the Economy said in a statement on Wednesday.

France is enabling the production of the tracks with a loan of €37.6 million euros ($38.7 million).

Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian invasion for almost three years. The damage to the railway network is considerable and the Ukrainian steelworks previously responsible for the production of tracks have also been destroyed.

The reconstruction of Ukraine’s railway network, which is the third largest in Europe after those in Germany and France, is seen as crucial for the country’s defence capability and economy.

The delivery of the tracks is the beginning of a larger partnership between France, Europe and Ukraine in the railway sector.

Other infrastructure such as railway stations and bridges have been destroyed and require major investment, according to the French Ministry.



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