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Ukrainian president confirms Ukraine starts importing electric energy from Russia

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said late on December 26 that Moscow and Kiev signed a contract on supplies of 9 billion kilowatt-hours of electric power

KIEV, December 29 /TASS/. Ukraine has started importing electric energy from Russia, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Monday.

“An agreement was ready yesterday. We agreed that power supplies worth 1.4 GW would start at 12am (local time). That helped easing the strain on thermal power stations,” Poroshenko told a news conference. He expects state companies in Ukraine and Russia to strike a second deal in the days to come.

Earlier, the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy and Coal Mining Industry suggested concluding an agreement with the Russian Energy Ministry for importing electric energy from Russia at a price of 688 hryvnias ($43.5/MW).

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said late on December 26 that Moscow and Kiev signed a contract on supplies of 9 billion kilowatt-hours of electric power.

Ukraine is now facing a deficit of gas and coal for electric power and heat production, as the country is saving gas due to decreased supplies from Russia and has a lack of coal due to warfare in the Donbas region, where the majority of the country’s coal mines are located.

As a result, Crimea, which became part of Russia in March and is still dependent on power supplies from Ukraine, is now suffering from power supply disruptions.

Ukraine will supply electric power to Crimea in case it receives electric power from Russia under concluded agreements, Poroshenko said.

He also said that Ukraine was ready to buy coal from the Donbas region if the payment is used to pay wages to miners.