“According to von der Leyen, from February 2022, EU aid to Ukraine’s energy sector will reach at least two billion euros”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“Of these, 60 million euros of humanitarian aid will be allocated for shelters and, for example, heaters, and 100 million euros from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets will be directed to repair work and renewable energy sources,” she said.
According to von der Leyen, as of February 2022, EU aid to Ukraine’s energy sector will amount to at least two billion euros.
As the president of the EC stated, Ukraine needs 17 gigawatts of power this winter. According to her, 80 percent of Ukraine’s thermal power plants and a third of hydropower capacities were destroyed.
“We aim to restore 2.5 GW of capacity, which is 15% of Ukraine’s needs,” von der Leyen said.
In addition, she noted that the EU exports two gigawatts of electricity to Ukraine, which covers approximately 12% of the country’s winter needs.
Given the assistance in repairs and exports, the EU will cover more than 25% of Ukraine’s electricity needs for the winter, added the President of the European Commission.
Von der Leyen also announced her visit to Kyiv this week.
“After this press conference, I will go to Kyiv to personally discuss these issues with President Zelensky tomorrow in our efforts to help Ukraine,” she said.
The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine emphasizes that the significant damage caused by the mass attacks of Russia, in particular one of the largest attacks on the energy industry on August 26, continues to complicate the operation of the energy system. In addition, Russian troops do not stop daily shelling of energy infrastructure facilities.
According to the ministry, since October 2022, Russia has carried out more than a thousand strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure facilities, and this year alone, 9 GW of generating capacity was lost due to strikes.
Earlier today, the UN mission said that Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have caused significant damage and could lead to even more devastating consequences as winter approaches.