Ukraine plans to support Germany in its efforts to end dependence on Russian energy imports and provide electricity assistance to Europe’s largest economy.
“Ukraine currently exports its electricity to Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and Poland. We are quite ready to expand our exports to Germany”, said the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal.
“We have enough electricity in Ukraine thanks to our nuclear power plants,” Shmyhal said, adding that he would raise the issue during a visit to Germany this weekend.
He should come to Berlin today or tomorrow and will meet with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
In mid-March, Ukraine synchronized its power grid with the European grid. Since then, Kyiv has exported between 400 and 700 megawatts of electricity per day to the European Union and Moldova. Shmyhal now wants to increase export quotas for the EU. “That would be very good for both sides. The EU would get more energy and we would get foreign currency, which we really need,” said the Ukrainian Prime Minister.
Electricity consumption in Ukraine has fallen sharply since the beginning of the Russian occupation due to the mass exodus of the population and the economic crisis. This freed up space for Ukraine’s electricity exports. Six reactors at Enerhodar’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant have been under Russian control since March.
The international community fears that bombings near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant could lead to a nuclear disaster.