Ukrenergo announces only scheduled power cuts in Ukraine for Wednesday

MOSCOW. Nov 23 (Interfax) - Ukrenergo, the operator of Ukraine's high-voltage power lines, has announced 24-hour scheduled power cuts in all regions of the country for Wednesday, November 23.

"Scheduled power cuts will be used in all regions of Ukraine today, on November 23, 2022," Ukrainian media outlets quoted Ukrenergo as saying on social media.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal, for his part, said at a government meeting on Tuesday that the power supply situation remains challenging.

"The situation remains difficult but manageable. It means that blackouts are still being resorted to in all regions. There are scheduled power cuts. We are trying to make them shorter, but we are now facing a spell of frosty weather, and we see that electricity consumption is growing. Therefore, unfortunately, we do not rule out emergency blackouts in individual situations. The call to save electricity remains critically important. It will help avoid unscheduled emergency blackouts," Shmygal said.

The size of damage suffered by Ukrenergo because of the crisis is estimated at more than 70 billion hryvni, the prime minister said.

Ukraine has not been selling electricity to the European Union since October 11, Shmygal said.

"What our power plants are generating now is being used to supply Ukraine and Ukrainians," he said.

Ukrainian media also said, citing deputy head of the Ukrainian parliamentary committee on finances, tax and customs policy Yaroslav Zheleznyak, that Ukraine imported 136,000 power generators of different types for approximately $88 million between November 1 and 21.

"A total of 32,000 generators have already been imported using the customs privileges, which have been provided in the amount of $5.2 million," Zheleznyak said on social media.

As reported, the Ukrainian government's directive exempting imports of power equipment of Ukraine for the upcoming winter from VAT and customs duty was adopted on November 9 and entered into force on November 11. The list of such products includes power generators, transformers, storage batteries, electrical equipment for commutation or protection of electrical circuits or for connecting to electrical circuits or in electrical circuits of more than 1,000 V, including switches, electrical panels and equipment and devices for filtering or purifying water.

Shmygal said on November 18, responding to complaints about difficulties during the import of power generators and charging stations by individuals, that the government adopted a protocol decision to ensure unimpeded customs clearance of power supply goods for individuals.