Shmygal spoke about the preparations for the new heating season/Photo from Denis Shmygal's telegram

Denys Shmyhal said that the current heating season will be the most difficult in the history of Ukraine. Therefore, the government is already actively preparing for it.

The Cabinet of Ministers is creating a headquarters that will daily prepare for the heating season. Prime Minister Denis Shmigal stated this today at a government meeting.

Smihal spoke about preparations for the heating season during a full-scale war

The headquarters will be headed by Alexei Chernyshev, Minister for the Development of Communities and Territories. In general, it will include representatives of local authorities, heat suppliers, the regulator and Naftogaz. Their task will be:

• to balance the system,
• to carry out repairs,
• to quickly solve all problems,
• to form the necessary level of communication between all levels involved.

The specialists have already made the first calculations to establish how much gas and coal is needed, as well as what repairs should be carried out. After all, Russian infidels destroyed more than 200 boiler houses in Ukraine and damaged a number of thermal power plants:

• Kremenchug,
• Chernigovskaya,
• Akhtyrskaya,
• Lugansk,
• Severodonetsk.

In addition, hundreds of power lines and transformer substations. In general, the losses of energy infrastructure as a result of the war have already reached tens of billions of hryvnias.

Now the Cabinet of Ministers is calculating several scenarios for the development of events at once in order to be as prepared for the winter as possible. According to Shmyhal, gas production this year is estimated at 16 to 19 billion cubic meters, and consumption – from 21 to 24 billion cubic meters. Accordingly, they plan to import part of the gas.

What gas reserves does Ukraine have

At the end of the heating season, there were 9 billion cubic meters in Ukrainian gas storages. Since the storage facilities have begun to be pumped, as of June 1, they already store 10 billion cubic meters of gas. This is 7.5% more than the average figures for 2014-2018.

By the way, Naftogaz was obliged to provide gas storage facilities for at least 19 billion cubic meters of gas.

Coal production fell due to the occupation

Since the Russian invaders occupied part of the Ukrainian territories, coal production in state mines fell by about a third. However, Shmihal assured that the government has alternative options, so by the beginning of the heating season, the volume of coal in warehouses should be at least 2 million tons.

By the way, the level of electricity consumption in Ukraine has also fallen, including – by 30%.

This makes it possible to both supply the country and export electricity to European countries, which is why our companies receive additional income and export earnings. – Shmigal noted.

He stressed that the transportation of electricity to the EU countries will allow them to reduce their dependence on Russian gas.

The head of government noted that the Ukrainian energy sector has great potential for development. It is she who will become the area that, after winning the war, will restore our economy.