MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/. Ukraine will be unable to repair all damaged energy facilities before the start of the upcoming winter season, the head of the country’s national energy company Ukrenergo, Vladimir Kudritsky, has said.
"It will be impossible to repair all 100% of the damaged facilities in eight months. According to our estimates, Ukrenergo’s power grid is running at around 70-80% of its last year’s capacity, and we continue to improve these figures," he told a news conference in Odessa, broadcast by the Ukrinform news agency.
Kudritsky added that between one third and one half of Ukraine’s energy system has been destroyed, including power generation and transmission facilities.
Ukrenergo said on July 31 that power generation in the country will be limited in August due to repairs at a large number of power generation units, including thermal power plants, hydroelectric power plants and several nuclear reactors. The company added that Ukraine’s power generation sector currently has to rely on electricity imports from Slovakia and Moldova during peak hours.
Earlier, the Ukrainian government reported that more than a half of Ukraine’s entire power generation and transmission infrastructure had been damaged. Later, Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said that Ukrenergo completed around 60% of scheduled power grid repairs. At the same time, the presidential administration has admitted that the upcoming winter season will be more difficult than the previous one.
In this regard Mikhail Podolyak, who is an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, advised his compatriots to keep heating equipment at hand.