Norway to fund Ukraine gas procurement with $195 million aid

OSLO (Reuters) - The Norwegian government on Monday said it had agreed to assist Ukraine with gas procurement for the coming winter, providing funding amounting to 2 billion Norwegian crowns ($195 million).

The funds, part of a previously announced aid package of 10 billion crowns, will go via the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

"It is important to channel the support through an established, internationally recognised organisation, which will ensure effective and transparent use of the funding," Norway's Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum said in a statement.

($1 = 10.2652 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Stine Jacobsen)