Zelensky asks for equipment from shutdown European power plants, direct financial support for Ukrainian energy sector

MOSCOW. June 11 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has urged European partners to provide Ukraine with equipment from shutdown European power plants and to give direct financial assistance to the Ukrainian energy industry.

"Our capacities totaling 9GW have been disabled, given that energy consumption in Ukraine reached 18GW at the peak of last winter. Half of it is now gone," Ukrainian media cited Zelensky as saying at the opening of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin.

Ukraine has lost 80% of thermal generation capacities and a third of hydropower generation capacities, Zelensky said. "We need to start restoring the energy sector and do everything we can to preserve the remaining generation facilities and restore what we have lost to the maximum extent," he said.

This is important not only from the prospective of Ukraine, Zelensky said.

"We cannot do this without your [European] loans and investment. This is not about grants: we are talking about high-yield investments of your companies, a market for your equipment, and loan programs for your institutions. All of that will help us lay a new energy foundation. At least tens of thousands of jobs will ensure a tangible economic growth both for us and for you," he said.

"We must ensure a quick and inexpensive restoration of all energy facilities we can restore before winter," Zelensky said.

"We know how to do it. We are asking for equipment from your power plants, which, by the way, have been shut down, and for direct financial assistance," he said.