Due to massive attacks in Ukraine, curfew rules are being changed
Against the backdrop of massive attacks by the Russian Federation, Ukraine has declared a state of emergency in the energy sector, which entails changes to the rules for citizens during curfew hours. This was announced on 16 January by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal.
According to him, the emergency regime was introduced to ensure maximum coordination of actions by all services in the capital, regions and communities. Shmyhal noted that he has been given the authority to lead the work to eliminate the consequences of this situation, and the list of priority tasks has been determined at the government level.
First of all, the work of the Headquarters for the Elimination of the Consequences of the Emergency in the Energy Sector and a separate headquarters for the electric power systems of the city of Kyiv and the Kyiv region has been intensified. The first meetings of both headquarters have already taken place, and coordination is ongoing.
The government is also changing the rules for citizens' movement during curfew. People will be allowed to move freely at night to reach points of resilience that provide heat, power and communications in the event of outages.
Separately, the government has recommended that the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission review and simplify the procedures for connecting backup power equipment as soon as possible. Under the new approaches, the review and approval of the project should take up to two days, with another two days allocated for obtaining technical conditions, inspection and sealing of metering units.
In addition, backup equipment will be redistributed among regions, taking into account the criticality of life support facilities. State-owned companies, in particular Ukrzaliznytsia and Naftogaz, must urgently ensure the purchase of imported electricity for the 2025 and 2026 heating seasons in an amount of at least 50 per cent of total consumption.
Shmyhal stressed that the main task of the authorities is the coordinated and effective work of all services to stabilise the situation in the energy system as quickly as possible, primarily in Kyiv and the region.
Source and photo: Denys Shmyhal.
Shmyhal, Ministry of Energy
