WARSAW, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The Ukraine Recovery Conference opened in Poland's Baltic port city of Gdansk on Thursday, with participants pledging billions of euros in reconstruction support.
Co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine, the two-day conference is expected to produce more than 160 agreements worth over 10 billion euros (about 11.36 billion U.S. dollars), Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.
She also announced that Ukraine signed a 3.39-billion-dollar agreement between Ukraine and the World Bank.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the disbursement of the first 3.2-billion-euro (3.64 billion U.S. dollars) tranche of a 90-billion-euro (102.28 billion U.S. dollars) EU loan package to support Ukraine's defense, energy resilience and state budget.
Svyrydenko attended the conference on behalf of President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose absence came amid a diplomatic dispute between the two neighboring countries over wartime history.
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski, however, said the dispute would not affect bilateral trade or Poland's military and humanitarian support for Ukraine.
On the sidelines of the conference, Polish energy giant Orlen and Ukraine's Naftogaz signed two agreements to expand LNG trade and strengthen Ukraine's energy security. ■