KIEV, October 22. /TASS/. The European Union has allocated €17 million for the restoration of the areas of east Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk regions that are controlled by the Kiev authorities, the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing, and Public Utilities said on Wednesday.

EU assistance will come in the form of grants varying in size from €200,000 to €2 million for the periods ranging from six to eighteen months. The money will be spent on restoration of infrastructure and housing, construction of facilities for provisional accommodation, as well as on accessibility of healthcare and education.

“The case in hand is irrevocable funds that will help Ukraine with an efficient solution of the problems that arose after the conflict in the east of the country started,” the Deputy Minister of Regional Development Miroslav Koshelyuk said.

“The project aims to boost the capability of the communities that suffered from the conflict and that took on themselves a considerable burden of supporting the internally displaced persons,” he went on.

The amount of aid allocated by the EU covers less than 6% of the money required for restoration of the areas controlled by Kiev at present. Finance Minister Oleksadnr Shlapak said earlier assessments put the funds needed for the most elementary rehabilitation works at €1.6 billion.