Ukraine bans electricity import from Belarus and Russia

At a meeting on May 26, the National Commission on Energy and Tariffs approved a ban on electricity import from Belarus and the Russian Federation until October 1, 2021.

It became known from the record of the meeting of the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities, the EP reports.

Valerii Tarasiuk, Chairperson of the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities, stressed that the regulator wasn't a political body, and therefore is guided in its decisions exclusively by the balance of interests of the state, consumers, and licensees.

"We also think about consumers, and that, in theory, the cessation of imports as a market mechanism can lead to abuse and manipulation of the market. And from a technical point of view, together with Ukrenergo and the Ministry of Energy, we agreed to jointly monitor the state of autumn-winter, the state of accumulation of coal. And, as we see in the example of this winter, the import was necessary," he commented on the decision of the Commission.

However, Tarasiuk stressed that the decision of the National Commission for State Regulation on May 26 didn't mean that the ban would not be extended after October 1, but today the regulator was ready to adopt it only before the autumn-winter period. Until then, joint monitoring will be carried out together with the operator and the Ministry of Energy.

As reported by Rubryka, on May 18, the new Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko sent an appeal to the National Commission for Energy Regulation of Ukraine to restrict electricity import from countries that aren't members of the Energy Community, i.e. from Russia and Belarus.

Earlier, People's Deputy Nalyvaichenko said that electricity import from Russia and Belarus was contrary to national interests and security interests.