Ukraine receives EUR 700 mln for power grid repair after Russian strikes
International partners and donors have provided over €700 million in loans to Ukrenerho, Ukraine’s state energy operator, to restore the power system, the company's CEO Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said on Monday.
According to Mr Kudrytskyi, the funds have been provided in loans from European partners and donors "at a minimum interest rate".
"This is how true European integration works – together we become stronger and will be able to better resist Russia's energy blackmail," he stressed, adding that the financial assistance "will be used to protect the Ukrainian consumer."
During the visit to one of Ukrenerho's facilities with German vice chancellor Robert Habeck, who was in Ukraine, and Germany’s ambassador Anka Feldhusen, Mr Kudrytskyi said that German companies alone had donated more than a hundred pieces of equipment needed to repair the company’s power grids and substations.
He added that the assistance "is not just charity", since by helping Ukraine Western companies are investing in common energy security and stability throughout the region.
"After all, our energy networks have been synchronised for more than a year," Mr Kudrytsky recalled
Russia started targeting Ukrainian power plants and other energy infrastructure with missiles in October 2022, which led to widespread rolling blackouts.
Since February, however, there has been no electricity shortage in Ukraine due to a combination of factors, including the load of all nuclear power plants, warm weather, flooding on the Dnipro River, and imports from Europe.