Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman confirmed that the blockade of the railway communication with territories of separate districts of Donetsk and Lugansk regions threatens rolling blackouts.
“Ukraine consumes energy 24 million tons of coal. Of these, 9 million are anthracite group, which is made from the Ukrainian subsoil of the property, which we temporarily do not control. A third of the country’s electricity is produced at thermal power plants and CHP… Blocking the supply of coal, which there is no alternative – ask the experts or professionals in the energy sector, they will tell you this means only one thing: stop and blackouts, which they say, on the whole territory of Ukraine. Do I need to bring this up? I believe not,” – explained the head of government in the program “events of the week” on TV channel “Ukraine”.
Groysman reminded that not “to declare a tough fight and a war to Ukrainian citizens, which should be light and heat” and “no one can afford today to leave the fate of millions of Ukrainians.”
According to him, tomorrow the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine will gather “energy staff” to assess the situation to understand what measures need to be taken. “In order to pass the season, now need to start saving. You can’t hold on to stocks was zero, and then to think, what to do with it. In the summer, the situation was similar. When I was blocked “Energoatom” began to burn coal, was lowered to 600 thousand tons of coal reserves and at the entrance to the heating season we had a catastrophic situation with energy. We barely leveled it – and now feel fine: and we have sufficient gas and electricity will be enough. But we should not create problems for us”, said Groisman.
The statements of the supporters of the embargo that temporarily uncontrolled territory carry contraband, the Prime Minister commented: “I am deeply convinced that we need to rationally understand. If there is a question of contraband, to be strong public control – just online”.
Groysman drew attention to the fact that important businesses that are under threat, there are about 500 thousand people, “who every day go to work”. “There’s Avdiivka coke. We all talked about the fact that God forbid he stops, stop production. Moreover, stop the heat that is supplied to the plant. Ukrainian soldiers stood at the forefront, defended the Ukrainian citizens. Volunteers going and so on. Today, without raw materials, no coal, they can stop,” he warned.
The Prime Minister believes that it is necessary to define clearly the group of products supplied to state-controlled territory and to provide their “public promotion in Ukraine”. “Moreover, all these companies are registered in Ukraine and pays taxes,” – said the head of the government, explaining the situation of coal needed for steel production supply.
Recall that the blockade continues for more than two weeks. Upon blocking of railway lines in the Luhansk oblast Prosecutor’s office opened criminal proceedings, and members of Parliament need to immediately convene the national security Council.
