Ukraine currently not exporting electricity - energy ministry

That’s according to Deputy Minister Mykola Kolisnyk, who spoke on the air of the national telethon, addressing allegations that Ukraine sells electricity abroad despite the grave domestic situation, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"First of all, I’d like to refute that. There is no export (of electricity — ed.) and neither it is planned. But the number of such hostile psyops is quite significant, and, of course, the Ministry of Energy comes out with official reports (refuting such allegations — ed.),” he said.

The Ministry urged household consumers to trust only official statements posted on the websites of ministries or regional energy distribution system operators.

According to Kolisnyk, the situation of Ukraine’s power grid remains rather complicated.

"The most difficult situation in the last day (was recorded — ed.) in Kharkiv due to constant shelling. A repair crew came under fire there. Today, those damages were quickly contained. A major heatwave, which leads to increased consumption, also affects the operation of electrical equipment. In western regions, due to extremely hot weather, a short circuit affected electrical equipment, due to which the transmission line was temporarily turned off. Today, it is fully repaired," the deputy minister said.

Kolisnyk informed that currently, the ministry notes increased energy consumption in Ukraine, and in order to cover it, imports from Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, and Poland are currently expected. Emergency assistance is also involved – to use all possible capacities to cover domestic demand.

When asked if there would be any relief in terms of blackouts, he said there were some issues related to the operation of critical infrastructure facilities that are not de-energized.

"The same as enterprises that contract up to 80% of their own electricity consumption at import prices. Capacity cap schedules do not apply to such enterprises. Therefore, we urge the industry to use the instrument of electricity import provided by the Cabinet. This helps both make maximum use of the capacity on a commercial basis, and helps energy companies balance the power system and rationally distribute electricity to all consumers," explained the deputy minister.

As reported earlier, in Ukraine, as of the morning of July 14, some 490 settlements in various regions were in blackout due to hostilities and technical failures amid the record heatwave.