Imports from Western countries cannot cover electricity shortage in Ukraine - DTEK

MOSCOW. June 25 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian power system is experiencing a critical shortage of electricity, and imports cannot fully solve the problem, Sergei Kovalenko, CEO of the Yasno (DTEK Solution) power supply company, said on Monday evening.

"We're experiencing a critical shortage of domestic power generation [...] So critical that even maximum possible imports cannot solve the problem. The shortage problem will be severe within the next six to eight weeks. Apart from the abovementioned lack of generation, growing consumption adds to the problem," Ukrainian media quoted Kovalenko as saying on his social account.

The Ukrainian power generating industry currently depends heavily on solar and wind generation, which causes considerable fluctuations in power supply even within a particular day, Kovalenko said. Apart from that, several units of nuclear power plants have been stopped for scheduled maintenance.

Vladimir Kudritsky, head of the national power grid operator Ukrenergo, said on June 14 that Ukraine would be unable to restore all damaged power generating units before winter.

Deputy Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk has said the government is in negotiations with partners to increase electricity imports before the start of the heating season, but even increased imports could not fully meet the country's demand.

Energy Minister German Galushchenko has said Ukraine has lost a huge portion of its power generation lately.

Yasno is the brand under which the D.Solutions holding incorporated in DTEK operates as an electricity and natural gas supplier.