On December 20, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, a meeting was held with the participation of members of the Anti-Crisis Energy Headquarters to discuss the stable operation of energy facilities.
The participants discussed the issues of passing the autumn-winter period of 2022/2023 in the conditions of massive shelling of critical infrastructure by russia, the situation with restoration of generating equipment damaged as a result of russian aggression, as well as ensuring a balanced operation of the electricity market and financial stability of its key participants during the heating season under martial law.
“The Government, in close coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is actively cooperating with more than 30 countries to supply Ukraine with the equipment necessary to repair damaged energy infrastructure. We are making every effort not only to cover current needs, but also to create a sufficient reserve that will help our power engineers to restore facilities even more quickly after the shelling,” the Prime Minister stressed.
At the same time, the Head of Government instructed the responsible ministries and agencies to take the necessary measures to strengthen protection of critical infrastructure.
Also, the participants of the meeting paid attention to the issue of ensuring a fair and even distribution of available capacity and electricity among consumers during the measures to limit electricity consumption.
According to the Minister of Energy German Galushchenko, in order to fulfill the task of the Prime Minister, the State Inspectorate for Energy Supervision, the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission and law enforcement agencies conducted unscheduled inspections of distribution system operators in every region.
Head of the State Inspectorate for Energy Supervision Ruslan Slobodian reported of 193 violations of requirements of regulatory acts in the field of electricity as a result of the first stage of inspections. The most common of them were as follows:
According to the State Inspectorate for Energy Supervision, the top violators are Volynoblenergo, DTEK Kyiv Regional Grids, Poltavaoblenergo, DTEK Kyiv Grids, Ternopiloblenergo and Chernihivoblenergo.
At the same time, the least violations were recorded at Prykarpattyaoblenergo, Kharkivoblenergo and Kirovohradoblenergo.
According to the State Inspectorate for Energy Supervision, the relevant reports on violations have been made against the distribution system operators. Violations must be eliminated by December 31. In case of non-compliance, measures will be taken in accordance with the applicable legislation.
The Prime Minister stressed that measures to check the operators should take place on a permanent basis for the period of wartime.
“We all understand that there is irregularity in power outages. Some buildings can stay without light for eight, ten or more hours, while others, sometimes even across the street, have light for eight to ten hours. This is a matter of fairness for people. Therefore, the work of such inspection groups should be permanent,” said Denys Shmyhal.
The Prime Minister also instructed the Ministry of Energy and the State Inspectorate for Energy Supervision to report publicly, every Friday, on the violations discovered among the distribution system operators and the measures taken to eliminate them.