Ukraine consulting with EU on early accession to European power system

At a meeting with EU Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson and UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng, Minister of Energy Herman Haluschenko on Sunday announced Ukraine's intention to join the European power system ENTSO-E as soon as possible.

"The minister informed about the decision to refrain from joining the power system of Ukraine to the unified power system of Russia and Belarus. He also appealed to support Ukraine's desire to join the European unified power system as soon as possible," the Ministry of Energy said in a press release on Sunday.

As the ministry said, Haluschenko informed his interlocutors in detail about the situation in the Ukrainian energy sector, primarily in the context of the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine.

In particular, the minister assured of the safety of the operation of nuclear power plants in Ukraine, noting at the same time that due to the capture of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant by Russian troops, Ukraine cannot now be responsible for the safety of handling nuclear materials in the exclusion zone.

As follows from the press release, Haluschenko also focused on the danger of continued dependence of European countries on Russian gas and the need to limit the possibility of the Russian Federation using gas as a weapon against Europe.

"In turn, the interlocutors assured the minister of full solidarity with the Ukrainian side in countering Russian aggression. And readiness to provide support to the energy industry of Ukraine," the Ministry of Energy said.

As reported, Ukraine, after successfully implementing the program of testing the operation of the country's power system together with the Moldovan power system in an isolated mode, refused to connect back to the power systems of the Russian Federation and Belarus.

Source: www.en.interfax.com.ua