Ukrenergo head: Toughest period for Ukraine's power system behind

MOSCOW. July 29 (Interfax) - The situation in Ukraine's power system will be gradually improving, and the country will be able to minimize power supply restrictions or do without them in September and October, Vladimir Kudritsky, board chairman of the national power grid operator Ukrenergo, said last Friday.

"New generating facilities will resume operations following repairs as planned, and we have quite good chances to minimize power supply restrictions in September and October, reducing them to a level much lower than now, or do without outages at all," Ukrainian media quoted Kudritsky as saying at a press briefing.

"Obviously, July was the toughest month this summer, but the most difficult period is behind now," Kudritsky said.

As for longer-term forecasts, Kudritsky said, "We need to maximize our preparedness as regards power plants, grids, and communities."

"Among other things, this includes providing critical infrastructure elements with backup power supply sources and staying ready at the household level. Ukrenergo is analyzing the worst-case scenarios, we can't afford to be optimists and must prepare for hard situations, based on which we plan our actions," Kudritsky said.

"The grid is ready to fully guarantee power supply to each region not only in summer but also in winter," he said.