On the sidelines of the ministerial meeting organised on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the International Energy Agency in Paris, Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko met with Minister for Energy of Belgium Tinne Van der Straeten.

The Ukrainian Energy Minister informed his Belgian counterpart that russia had changed its tactics of attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure and was now targeting mainly certain regions, primarily industrial ones.

German Galushchenko thanked Belgium for its support of the Ukrainian energy sector, namely 10 humanitarian cargoes of energy equipment totalling 14.7 tonnes, as well as its decision to make a EUR 2.5 million contribution to the Ukrainw Energy Support Fund.

He briefed Tinne Van der Straeten on Ukraine's plans to increase decentralised generation capacity, in particular by installing gas turbines, and to continue developing renewable energy sources. German Galushchenko noted that the previous year Ukraine had commissioned about 350 MW of new renewable energy capacities. The Minister of Energy of Ukraine stressed that decentralisation of generation was one of the priority areas in the energy policy to meet the needs of consumers in wartime.

The parties also discussed the issue of gas supplies. The Belgian Minister for Energy stressed that European countries remained committed to their intention to completely stop consuming russian gas.

For his part, German Galushchenko emphasized that Ukraine's gas storage facilities had been certified in accordance with European rules and were ready to offer their European partners about 15 billion cubic metres of their natural gas storage capacity. The Minister also noted that Ukraine planned to fully cover domestic consumption with domestically produced gas this year.