Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko said Ukraine needs improved air defense to protect its energy assets from Russian missile attacks and avoid blackouts this summer.
"The destruction was significant - both in the power industry and in power transmission. The situation is complicated. We still do not understand the extent of the damage, as many objects are still in ruins and we cannot reach them." the official said in an interview Bloomberg.
According to him, although the losses have not yet been officially calculated, they are already measured in billions of hryvnias and continue to grow. Gerashchenko noted that the scale can reach billions of dollars.
It is noted that currently suffered six gigawatts of electricity, which is three times more than Ukraine planned to import from the West this winter. DTEK stated that 80% of its facilities were seriously damaged.
Galushchenko said that Ukraine is actively looking for energy equipment all over the world to replace damaged ones. However, this hunt may be in vain if there is not enough air defense. This spring, Russia began shelling Ukraine's thermal and hydroelectric power stations. These attacks threaten not only the loss of electricity, but also environmental disasters.
"Attacks on hydroelectric power plants are acts of terrorism and war crimes because they affect not only energy production but also the operation of dams on rivers." explained the minister.
He added that Russia wants to destroy the Ukrainian economy. More damage to the network will complicate the situation in the summer when consumption reaches its peak.
"We will definitely communicate with people. Everyone wants to live comfortably, but we have to think about the fact that now there are restrictions... Depending on the situation in July-August, we will ask people to save as much as possible. The Russians cannot cause a repeat of the blackouts of 2022 and 2023. Even in case of huge losses, we will have base generation that covers 30% to 50% of our needs." Galushchenko said.
However, he does not rule out the possibility of an increase in the electricity tariff for the population. The government is currently studying various options for financing the repair of its energy facilities. This is despite the fact that in June of last year, after the winter attacks, the price of electricity almost doubled.
"Today, the situation is even more difficult, compared to last year, because we lost a lot of hydroelectric power and are forced to carry out planned repairs of nuclear units," — added the minister.
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