Statement by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal at Government session

Dear colleagues! Fellow Ukrainians!

We are starting a regular meeting of the Government.

Ukraine is on the threshold of the heating season. This is the third autumn-winter period that we have to go through in the context of a full-scale war.

We are aware of all the extraordinary challenges and we are doing everything to minimise the risks.

The Government, regional military administrations and communities are working in sync in three key areas to ensure that all homes are warm and lighted in winter.

The first area is infrastructure preparation.

Today, more than 99% of residential buildings are ready for the start of the heating season.

The number of schools, kindergartens and hospitals ready for the winter is also close to 100%.

More than 18,000 boiler houses and 4,800 central heating units are ready to provide heat.

The second area is the accumulation of resources.

Currently, we have 12.2 billion cubic metres of natural gas in our gas storage facilities and 3.1 million tonnes of coal in our warehouses. This is enough to get us through the winter. I remind you that in this heating season, as in the last one, we plan to use domestically produced gas.

All 9 nuclear power units under Ukraine’s control are currently in operation. They will provide the bulk of electricity generation during the heating season.

The third area of winterisation is the creation of decentralised power generation.

The energy sustainability programmes initiated by the Government are in place. These include loans at 0% for citizens, loans for condominiums under the GreenDIM programme, 5-7-9% loans for small and medium-sized businesses, preferential 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.

The needs of utility companies in cogeneration units have been covered by more than half.

We already have 182 cogeneration units, of which 83 are in operation. Their total capacity is 147.3 MW. The rest of the cogeneration equipment will be installed by the end of this year.

The need for 239 block-modular boiler houses with a total capacity of about 635 MW has also been met.

We are working on the procurement and installation of this and other equipment in real time. We are focusing on 9 frontline and border regions. We are addressing their needs first and foremost.

Cities that depend on large thermal power plants are particularly vulnerable. It is the TPPs and CHPPs that russia has deliberately targeted, destroying or damaging almost 90% of Ukraine’s thermal power generation.

Our goal is to provide these communities with alternative sources of heat and electricity.

In particular, 127 cogeneration units and 8 gas piston units, 60 block-modular boiler houses, and 32 high-capacity power generators have been delivered or confirmed for Kharkiv.

I am sincerely grateful to our international partners for their unprecedented solidarity. It is thanks to our friends and allies that we receive the necessary funds to repair and modernise the energy sector.

In particular, our partners have accumulated some EUR 700 million in transferred and pledged funds in the Ukraine Energy Support Fund.

We expect that the assistance will continue. After all, Ukraine’s needs are still enormous, and russia’s intentions to terrorise our energy sector remain unchanged.

We are also looking forward to the successful conclusion of negotiations on increasing the limits on electricity imports from the EU from 1.7 to 2.2 GW.

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It is important that even in extremely difficult wartime conditions, the state supports those in need.

2.8 million families receive housing subsidies and benefits. In the first 9 months of this year, the state allocated UAH 28.2 billion for these payments.

This support will continue. The amount of payments for the heating season is automatically transferred by the Pension Fund. The state budget has sufficient funds.

I thank Ukrainian power engineers and all critical infrastructure workers for their tireless work. You are keeping Ukraine’s rear defended so that our soldiers have everything they need to fight the enemy.

This winter will be difficult, but Ukraine will cope with all the challenges. We will definitely stand our ground and win!

Thank you for your attention! Glory to Ukraine!