Zelensky told who will protect energy infrastructure in winter
15 October 2024 19:45
Ukrainian aviation will take an active part in the protection of energy infrastructure. This statement was made on 15 October was made by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reports "Komersant Ukrainian".
“All levels of protection of energy infrastructure: engineering, electronic warfare and air defence. Our aviation will take an active part. We have also decided to strengthen air defence in the border and frontline regions,” Zelenskyy said.
He added that he also heard a report from the Air Force Commander on air defence: shooting down missiles and drones, as well as our electronic warfare system. Together with him, Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the format of strengthening air defence, and has already found some solutions to the Shahed and some types of missiles.
“The head of Naftogaz, Chernyshov, also reported today on the accumulation of gas in storage facilities and relevant issues of infrastructure protection. All the elements of preparation for the winter: electricity, gas, coal – what we expect, what we are preparing for, and what we need help with from our partners – are absolutely clearly defined,” the President of Ukraine added.
As a reminder, on Tuesday, the Head of State held an energy meeting. The main issue was Ukraine’s comprehensive preparation for winter. During the meeting, Volodymyr Zelenskyy heard reports from all those involved in the process: Naftogaz, Ukrenergo, the Ministries of Energy, Internal Affairs, Community and Territorial Development, the Air Force, and regional military administrations.
Ukraine’s preparations for winter: what is known
During a government meeting on 15 October, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal outlined three key areas to ensure that all homes are warm and light in winter.
The first area is infrastructure preparation. Today, the readiness of residential buildings is over 99%. The number of schools, kindergartens and hospitals ready for the winter is also close to 100%. More than 18,000 boiler houses and 4.8 thousand central heating stations are ready to supply heat.
The second area is the accumulation of resources. Currently, we have more than 12.2 billion cubic metres of natural gas in storage facilities, excluding the reserve gas stock at the customs warehouse, as well as 3.1 million tonnes of coal. This is enough to get us through the winter. All 9 nuclear power units under Ukraine’s control are currently in operation.
The third area of winterisation is the creation of decentralised generation. The energy resilience programmes initiated by the Government are in place. These include 0% interest rate loans for individuals, loans for condominiums under the GRIDIM programme, 5-7-9% loans for small and medium-sized businesses, and soft loans from the Decarbonisation Fund of Ukraine for utilities and communities. In total, banks have already disbursed UAH 2 billion in loans to various categories of borrowers.
