On 28 March, Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko took part in a regular high-level meeting of the G7+ Coordination Group to assist Ukraine’s energy sector. The online meeting was chaired by Geoffrey Pyatt, Assistant Secretary for Energy Resources at the U.S. Department of State, and attended by representatives of the G7+ member states, the European Union, the Energy Community, and the United Nations Development Programme.

The Minister of Energy informed the participants of the meeting about the consequences of the russian attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure on 22 March, which was the largest since the beginning of the full-scale war.

“Thermal and hydro generation was damaged. Much of the capacity will take a long time to restore. Key substations were also damaged,” he said.

German Galushchenko stressed that a list of urgent needs was being prepared to restore the capacity of public and private sector energy companies affected by the attack. This list will be handed over to the partners for consideration.

“We understand that the russians will not stop and will continue their attacks. With this in mind, we need to carry out repairs. But, in addition to repairs, we need to think about how we can quickly increase generation capacity. The fastest way out is to build manoeuvring capacities, which are especially important for regions such as Kharkiv and Odesa,” the Minister stressed.

German Galushchenko thanked international partners for their assistance to the Ukrainian energy sector, which made it possible to carry out a large-scale repair campaign last year and ensure a stable passage of the current heating season. “But now we are facing new challenges. It is therefore important to continue our cooperation to be ready for the next winter,” he said.

To enhance the security of energy facilities, the Minister drew attention to the importance of increasing the capacity of Ukraine’s air defence system and improving the physical protection of energy infrastructure. German Galushchenko also emphasised the need to increase Ukraine’s electricity import capacity to ensure the resilience of the energy system.

The participants of the meeting confirmed their readiness to continue to assist the Ukrainian energy sector. Geoffrey Pyatt assured that the relevant work was ongoing at the G7+ level and directly in the U.S., while Davide La Cecilia, Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Italy for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, stressed that support for the Ukrainian energy sector should be strengthened after the massive attacks, and that Italy, which currently held the G7 presidency, was working on it.