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Crimea ready for electricity turn-off by Ukraine

"The current package of measures for any scenarios is clear to us, Crimean colleagues are ready for that," Russia’s Deputy Construction and Utilities Minister Andrey Chibis says

SEVASTOPOL, September 25. /TASS/. Crimea’s utilities system is ready for implementation of Ukraine’s threats to limit energy supplies to the peninsula, Russia’s Deputy Construction and Utilities Minister Andrey Chibis told journalists in the federal Russian city of Sevastopol.

"We assess any threat as a serious one. The issue of life support of citizens is extremely important. The current package of measures for any scenarios is clear to us, Crimean colleagues are ready for that. I am not authorized to comment on it, disclosing all details and secrets," Chibis said.

Earlier, Sevastopol Governor Sergey Menyailo said Sevastopol, in case power is turned off, will be able to do without rolling blackouts, connecting over 270 backup power supplies.

Menyailo recalled that two thermal power plants are being built in Crimea: in Sevastopol and Simferopol, each 470 megawatts. The first unit of the Sevastopol plant is to be commissioned in September 2017.

On September 23, Ukrainian deputy Refat Chubarov, leader of the Crimean Tatar people’s Majlis, said power cuts to the peninsula could be the next stage of Crimea’s blockade.

On September 20, supporters of former Crimean deputy premier Lenur Islyamov, Verkhovna Rada deputy Mustafa Dzhemilev and leader of Crimean Tatars in Ukraine Refat Chubarov went on a so-called food blockade of Crimea, restricting movement of trucks with goods across border checkpoints. They were also joined by members of the Right Sector extremist group banned in Russia.

Crimean leader Sergey Aksyonov compared Ukraine’s blockade of the peninsula with a comedy, as goods from the neighboring state account for no more than five percent of the Russian region's market.

Aksyonov said there is no deficit of foodstuffs or growth of prices for goods due to restriction of supplies from Ukraine to Crimea. The cargo traffic of Russian goods to the peninsula via the Kerch ferry crossing over the past three days grew by 15%.