Key Points
Russian drones and missiles have knocked out half of the 18 gigawatts of power-generating capacity that Ukraine had before last winter..
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraines president, speaking at the conference, pleaded for help in decentralising the countrys energy system (with generators, solar panels and wind turbines), and for more air-defence systems..
Another question mark hanging over the conference was the absence of Mustafa Nayyem, a well-known former anti-corruption journalist who has been heading Ukraines agency for infrastructure and redevelopment..
Although some of the aid announced at the conference will go to the Ukrainian government, much was focused on bringing in private businesswhat the EU calls pillar two of its assistance programme to the country..
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, announced 1.4bn in new investment from European banks, along with guarantees for banks that are willing to extend loans to Ukrainian businesses..
