Readout of the meeting between Commissioner Kadri Simson and Ukraine's Minister of Energy German Galushchenko

Commissioner Kadri Simson and Minister Galushchenko

Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson discussed today with Ukraine's Energy Minister German Galushchenko, during an official visit to Kyiv, their cooperation to strengthen the resilience of the Ukrainian energy system and preparations for the next heating season.

Minister Galushchenko emphasized that the situation in the power system after the massive Russian attacks is quite complicated:

“We have already lost more than 8 GW. But we are working to restore the affected facilities and will restore as much as possible. Urgent solutions also include an increase in generation by next winter, in particular, maneuvering capacities.”

Commissioner Kadri Simson noted that the European Union will support Ukraine in rebuilding its energy infrastructure so that industry and households do not face any restrictions on electricity supply. The Parties discussed the needs of the Ukrainian energy sector for equipment that can be provided by European partners. Particular attention was focused on financial support, particularly through the mechanisms of the Ukraine Energy Support Fund established under the Energy Community Secretariat. In addition, the importance of the potential of interconnections between Ukraine and European countries was emphasized, which makes it possible to attract electricity from partner countries to balance the energy system.

The meeting today also focused on coordinating international cooperation to increase pressure on Russia and oust the aggressor country from global energy markets. Specifically, the Commissioner and Minister discussed the termination of the contract for the transit of Russian gas to Europe later this year. “The EU has been preparing for this for two years. We know that Russia is an unreliable gas supplier”, the Commissioner emphasized, recalling that Russia has repeatedly manipulated prices on the gas market.

The Commissioner also announced the European Commission's intention to have a new package of sanctions against Russia.

Minister Galushchenko added “Sanctions should deprive Russia of the opportunity to be any kind of player in the world markets”.

The meeting also focused on the future integration of Ukrainian energy markets into the European market and the relevant regulatory and legal preparations.