Ukraine has lost 80% of international support for its energy sector, expert says
Read NV on Google
Compared to 2022–2023, Ukraine has lost the bulk of its international support for the energy sector, Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Energy Industry Research Center and former Energy Ministry adviser, said in an interview with public broadcaster Suspilne on Nov. 12.
Kharchenko called for resignations of Herman Halushchenko and Svitlana Hrynchuk (former and current ministry heads; the Ukrainian parliament is set to vote on their dismissal on Nov. 18), warning that Ukraine’s partners may now be unwilling to talk to them, given their involvement with a major corruption investigation announced on Nov. 10. He added that European allies were “sending very interesting signals” on the matter.
“Unfortunately, we have already lost international support for Ukraine’s energy sector,” said Kharchenko.
“We have lost at least 80% of what we could have received. It’s becoming a bigger problem every day, and people are feeling it.”
He explained that in the first one-and-a-half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s grid operator, Ukrenergo, received about EUR1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) in grants and loans for equipment, materials, and other direct support. A second channel, the ministry-controlled Energy Support Fund, was much smaller and slower.
After the dismissal of Ukrenergo CEO Volodymyr Kudrytsky in September 2024, the company effectively lost access to international credit and slipped into technical default.
“Individual donors are providing some equipment, but that’s only 5–7% of what we had a year ago,” Kharchenko added.
He said the only viable alternative now is Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state oil and gas company, but it has no mandate to help with electricity generation projects.
“Naftogaz can secure funding for gas supplies and repair of its own facilities, but it can’t help the power grid,” the expert said.
“As a result, the electricity sector will receive at most 5–10% of the support it had before September 2024. We feel that reduction directly, especially in longer power outages.”
The military war may be swinging in our favor, but the information war continues.
Just as an army needs soldiers, so does a free society need its journalists to ensure that people have access to honest, trustworthy voices to understand the world around them.
For the past five years, The New Voice of Ukraine has been working tirelessly to push back against Russian narratives and defend democracy. But we cannot do it alone.
Please consider supporting us on Patreon for just $5 a month – your donation does directly to supporting journalists and ensuring that this front of the infowar says solid and defended.
Thank you.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
