NEW YORK, July 18. /TASS/. The energy system of Ukraine is on the brink of collapse amid an unusual heat wave and related surges in power consumption, while the Kiev government is trying to persuade the European Union to increase electricity exports to the country, The New York Times reported.

According to the report, temperatures in most of the country are reaching 40 degrees Celsius, putting an additional strain on the country’s power grid as residents turn on conditioners and other cooling equipment.

In this regard, the Ukrainian authorities have imposed rolling blackouts across the country and have been trying to persuade the European Union to remove restrictions on Ukraine’s electricity import capacity, which is now at 1.7 gigawatts. Besides, the Kiev government demands that Western countries provide it with spare parts from their decommissioned power plants.

The newspaper emphasized that the rolling blackouts are "a harbinger of what’s to come this winter," because, apparently, Ukraine is unlikely to repair its damaged power plants before the cold season sets in.

The New York Times writes that Ukrainian officials suggest installing hundreds of small gas turbines across the country in an attempt to disperse the energy infrastructure.

"[The] idea is great on paper, but hard in reality," the newspaper quoted Roman Vybranovsky, the co-founder of the Ukraine Facility Platform, as saying. "Turbines are not a plug-and-play solution."

According to Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko, the country is in the midst of an energy crisis. In his turn, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, specified that the Kanevskaya HPP, the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station and the Zmiyevskaya TPP had been damaged. The Energy Ministry reported the complete destruction of the Tripolskaya TPP, the largest power-generating facility in the Kiev Region. According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, over half of the country's entire energy system has been damaged. The government regularly urges citizens to save electricity.