BUCHAREST, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Romania's lower house of

parliament approved a draft law on Tuesday greenlighting the

donation of a Patriot missile defence system to Ukraine.

Romania, a NATO member since 2004, shares a 650-km

(400-mile) border with Ukraine and has had Russian drone

fragments stray into its territory repeatedly as Moscow attacks

Ukrainian ports just across the Danube River.

The government sent the law to parliament for approval on

Monday.

Once President Klaus Iohannis signs the bill into law, the

government will issue an order for the donation to go ahead.

Romania decided to donate one of its two operational Patriot

systems - one of five such systems and other strategic air

defence units pledged by NATO states to Kyiv - on condition that

allies replace it with another Patriot system at a later date.

The draft law parliament approved states the replacement

Patriot system from the United States should not cost more than

Romania originally paid per unit, and that the costs will be

covered from "non-refundable foreign sources".

Romania signed a $4 billion deal to buy Patriots in 2017,

its biggest procurement contract to date. It has received four

systems so far, with two operational.