Shmyhal holds first meeting of headquarters to prepare for next heating season

That's according to the Government Portal, Ukrinform reports.

Shmyhal said that the headquarters had been established by a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers to coordinate the entire range of preparatory work.

"Our goal is to overcome the consequences of the Russian terror, modernize and adapt the fuel and energy system to new challenges, and ensure that Ukrainians' homes are warm and light in autumn and winter," Shmyhal said.

During the meeting, the prime minister outlined the challenges facing the headquarters.

"The first challenge is the scale of destruction. More than 800 heat supply facilities have been destroyed or damaged. After the massive shelling, Ukraine lost up to 8 GW of power generation. There are also losses in distribution systems. To restore what has been lost, we need a huge amount of money – about $1 billion. This is as of today, because, obviously, the strikes will continue and the amount of damage will continue to grow," Shmyhal said.

The second challenge, according to him, is the need to increase assistance from partners. Thus, the Ukraine Energy Support Fund has raised more than EUR 410 million.

"A new USAID program for the Ukrainian energy sector worth $190 million is about to be launched. We need to redouble our efforts to attract resources. The whole world should join Ukraine’s energy recovery," Shmyhal said.

The third challenge voiced by Shmyhal was the financial and economic state of energy and heat supply companies. According to him, the crisis of mutual debts is a deterrent to reconstruction and modernization.

"We need effective mechanisms to resolve it. At the same time, the most vulnerable segments of the population must be protected. To this end, the Government has already made several important decisions," Shmyhal said.

According to him, the next heating season will be an extremely difficult task. Not just to restore everything that needs to be restored. It is also necessary to start a structural overhaul of the energy and heat supply system.

"We have to make it invulnerable to Russian terror and at the same time efficient and effective," Shmyhal said.

In addition, the participants in the meeting heard information from the relevant ministers and heads of energy companies on the previous heating season and preparations for the next one.

Based on the reports, the Prime Minister instructed the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development to approve repair schedules for energy facilities and steps to strengthen their protection before the start of the 2024/2025 heating season.

Photo: Government Portal