KIEV, November 29. /TASS/. Import of electricity from Western countries will not meet Ukraine’s entire demand, a Ukrainian lawmaker said on Tuesday.

"At peak hours, Ukraine consumes about 16,000 MW. We can import less than ten percent of this volume. So, import cannot meet our entire demand, it can help us in difficult times when we have deficit. It will help shorten outages but will not be able to settle the situation," Andrey Gerus, head of the energy committee of Ukraine’s Verkhova Rada (parliament), said in an interview with the Rada television channel.

According to Gerus, the most difficult situation with electricity supplies is in the country’s central and northeastern parts.

As of Tuesday morning, according to Ukrenergo, the power shortage in the grid was 30%.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said on November 18 that nearly half of the country’s energy system had been disabled. Head of the presidential office Andrey Yermak said on November 23 that he did not rule out that electricity outages may last for weeks.

On November 28, Ukraine made the first test purchase on electricity from Romania. Last month, it purchased electricity from Slovakia.