KIEV, January 28, 6:11 /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine’s Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Eduard Stavitsky said Monday he did not rule out a possible introduction of a state of emergency in the country in case of a continued growth of activity of extremists and terrorists.
“I think we shouldn’t cross a certain borderline but if the actions of extremists and terrorists continue spreading, the government will have to take a decision,” he said when a reporter asked him about the prospects for an emergency situation.
Government offices and organizations have been getting anonymous threats of all sorts recently and some of them spoke of a possible seizure of a nuclear power plants in the western Rovno region and the mining of the famous Dneproges hydropower plant in the lower reach of the Dnieper.
“I see smiles on some of your faces here but I can tell you for sure there’ll be no one to smile out there /should the threats be translated in reality,” Stavitsky said. “I’m asking you once again - please do a fair coverage of events.”
He told reporters earlier that well-coordinated efforts of emergency and security services and the Energy Ministry had made it possible “to eliminate a real threat at Dneproges.”
“At this moment, the law enforcers are searching for the masterminds and perpetrators of the crime,” Stavitsky said, recalling an attempt of neo-Nazi activists to storm the building of the Energy Ministry, the staff of which is now maintaining full readiness for an assault that might begin anytime.
“I won’t admit anyone’s interference in the operations of the national energy sector,” he said.