Statement by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal at a Government session

Good afternoon, distinguished colleagues, fellow Ukrainians.

The urgent issue, of course, is the situation in the energy sector. Yesterday, the russian army continued to fight against the civilian population and destroy the civilian energy infrastructure of Ukraine. Another large-scale missile attack was carried out against our energy system. 45 missiles were shot down by our air defense systems. In locations there were hits, we immediately started restoration activities.

As of this morning, water and electricity have been fully restored in Kyiv. In Kyiv region, the majority of consumers were also connected. In the Cherkasy region, where electricity was almost completely lost yesterday, the situation has stabilized, people have electricity.

The fact that there is light in our homes today is the merit of our energy workers, utility workers and rescuers. For the last day, all the last weeks and months, they have been working in an intensified mode, making repairs, dismantling rubble, connecting reserve equipment. We utter gratitude to our heroes for this!

Yesterday's attack is part of a larger, pre-planned russian strategy to destroy Ukraine's energy system. And we altogether must understand that the attacks against our energy infrastructure will prolong. There will be attempts to destroy both our system of generation and distribution of electricity. There will be strikes against water and heat supply systems.

We have how to respond to russia's attacks on energy infrastructure and how to counter this terrorism. In simple words, air defense, repairs, reserves and savings.

First, we apply two power cut-off modes for consumers. The first is the scheduled mode, when the lights are turned off to stabilize the power system according to pre-planned schedules. We are working together with energy companies so that the schedules of such outages correspond to reality and are minimal.

It is important to bear in mind that the terrorists do not stick to any schedule while attacking our infrastructure.

Therefore, in fact, there is a second type of power outage – in an emergency. Emergency shutdowns cannot be predicted both regarding their terms and how long they will last. When a missile or a drone hits an infrastructure object, as a result, part of the consumers face electricity shut-offs in an emergency.

To minimize planned outages, you need to save electricity. Each of us must now accept this new reality and adapt to consume as little electricity as possible. Especially during peak hours in the morning and evening.

The second part of countering the russian plans is the strengthening of air defense. In October-November, we will have more progress in this matter than in the last 8 years. We express gratitude to our partners for they have finally heard our arguments. We hope they speed up the delivery of the promised systems for the protection of all energy facilities in our country.

Moreover, we continue to negotiate with our partners an increase in the supply of equipment for infrastructure restoration, as well as mobile power and heat sources. Already 12 countries have agreed to help, while many have provided assistance before. The system operators of some European countries have been handing over equipment to NPC Ukrenergo for the past 8 months, so Ukraine has had and will have reserves to restore the destroyed infrastructure.

Now pertaining to the evacuation of certain communities or regions news reports were about yesterday. Now the state is urging people to leave only those communities that are located in the immediate vicinity of the frontline. In fact, evacuation plans had been developed for each region. This is an emergency step that we will use as a last resort. Such a scenario is also possible, but we will do everything we can to prevent it.

The state is preparing and stocking up on additional equipment, and Ukrainians should also prepare for a difficult winter, have supplies of technical water, flashlights, power banks, warm clothes, batteries and other things.

The second objective on the agenda of the Government is to finance all the necessary expenses. To find resources to provide the country with everything necessary this and the following year.

Yesterday, the Government approved and submitted to the Verkhovna Rada the updated budget for 2023. This will be a budget for victory, because more than UAH 1 trillion will be directed to the army and security of the country. Other key expenses are pensions, medicine and education.

However, the 2023 budget will have an unprecedented deficit of $38 billion. This is our reality. We can earn only 50 kopecks from each hryvnia, which must be spent on the primary needs of Ukrainians. The rest is internal borrowing and external aid from our allies. Budget funds mainly go to the army and provision of social benefits.

Keeping challenges in mind, the Government is working on three directions to finance the budget deficit: programs with the United States, the European Union, and the IMF. These are our core partners in this direction.

With the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, we were discussing the EUR 18 billion macro-financial aid program. We wish to attract similar amounts and programs with the USA and the IMF. Yesterday we raised the topic of the macro-financial aid with the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala.

With the Czech delegation, in particular, we tackled the European integration prospects of Ukraine. The Czech Republic currently presides over the Council of the EU, which is why it is so critical for us to get support in this matter.

We expect that at the end of the year, the European Commission will provide a positive conclusion on Ukraine's implementation of the recommendations. After that, we will be able to quickly move on to the discussion of our admission procedure.

The Czech Republic also confirmed its intention to take patronage over the restoration of the Dnipropetrovsk region. This is a worthy example, and we encourage all our partners to follow it.

We will restore everything that these terrorists have destroyed, and not just restore, but make it even better. We are starting this program together with our partners right now. And the first stage is to restore and strengthen our critical infrastructure.

Meanwhile, everyone in their place continues to work for victory.

Thank you for attention. Glory to Ukraine!