Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers is considering raising electricity tariffs in the wake of Russia’s new attacks on the energy sector, Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko said in an interview with Bloomberg.
“Depending on the situation in July and August, we will ask people to save as much as possible. The Russians will not be able to cause a repeat of the blackouts of 2022 and 2023. Even in the event of huge losses, we will have a basic generation that will cover 30% to 50% of our needs,” the minister said.
At the same time, Galushchenko did not rule out an increase in electricity tariffs for households and said that the government is exploring various ways to finance the repair of its energy assets.
“Today the situation is even more complicated than last year, as we have lost a lot of hydropower production and are forced to carry out scheduled repairs of nuclear power units,” he said.
The minister emphasized that Russia’s bombing of Ukrainian energy facilities in recent weeks was more extensive and better planned than the attacks of the previous two years, disabling generating capacity and limiting electricity supplies. As a result, restoring equipment and protecting the power grid have become key priorities for the government, although it is struggling to assess the extent of the damage.
“The destruction was extensive – in power generation and transmission. The situation is complicated. We still do not understand the extent of the damage, as many facilities are still in ruins and we cannot get to them,” explained Galushchenko.
In addition, in the spring of 2024, thermal and hydroelectric power plants became the main targets of Russian strikes. These attacks threaten not only electricity losses but also environmental disasters, Galushchenko said.
“Attacks on hydroelectric power plants are terrorist acts and war crimes, as they affect not only energy production but also the operation of dams on rivers,” the minister said.
Russia’s goal is to destroy Ukraine’s economy, Galushchenko said, adding that more damage to the power system would make it harder to overcome this summer’s consumption peaks.
“We will definitely communicate with people. Everyone wants to live comfortably, but we have to take into account the fact that there are restrictions now,” the minister concluded.
Bloomberg, CABINET OF MINISTERS OF UKRAINE, ELECTRICITY, Herman Galushchenko, tariff increase
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has obliged institutions of education, health care and other state contractors carrying out public procurement for budget funds to buy a number of products from the electronic catalog if their cost exceeds UAH 100 thousand.
According to the Ministry of Economy, Relevant amendments to the decree № 1178 on the peculiarities of public procurement for the period of martial law, the government adopted at a meeting on Friday.
“The Ministry of Economy has analyzed what set of products is most often purchased by educational institutions, medical institutions, and proposed amendments to the current regulations designed to simplify the procurement of such products for customers and suppliers. The electronic catalog procurement mechanism is the most understandable and accessible, so we suggest that customers and suppliers use the electronic catalog when making purchases. The decision will also contribute to the prevention of possible abuses and reduce corruption risks in procurement,” explained Deputy Minister of Economy Nadezhda Bigun.
The list of goods to be purchased through the catalog includes, in particular, meat – chicken, pork, beef, frozen fish, eggs, milk and dairy products including sour cream and kefir, cheese products, beet sugar, pasta, flour and various cereals, vegetables and fruits – cabbage, beets, carrots, apples, potatoes, etc.
The electronic catalog Prozorro Market is part of the reforms in the field of public procurement and allows customers to conduct competitive procurement of typical goods in just nine days, collecting competition twice as high as during the classic tender procedure. The administrator of the catalog in terms of consumer goods, including food products, has been determined by the centralized procurement organization GU “Professional Procurement”.
“Prozorro Market is not only a fast, convenient, safe, with minimal expenditure of resources of the customer procurement method, but also one where the savings are three times higher than in open tenders. The amount of food purchases in the electronic catalog already exceeds 2 billion UAH, and during 2023 every third purchase in the system was made using our tool”, – said the director of the State Institution “Professional Procurement” Eugene Yakubovsky.
It is assumed that if the purchase by electronic catalog by request for proposals did not take place, the customer can conduct a purchase at open tenders, without increasing the expected value of the purchase. Or procurement by request for proposals, taking into account the peculiarities of public procurement during martial law.
By the same decision, the government prohibited the purchase of goods, works and services from individuals and legal entities from the Russian Federation, Belarus and Iran, from companies whose ultimate beneficiaries or owners of more than 10% of shares are citizens of these countries. Exceptions are citizens legally residing in Ukraine; assets of citizens from these countries in the companies-suppliers are transferred to ARMA; goods from the Russian Federation and Belarus are necessary for repair and maintenance of goods purchased before October 19, 2022.
CABINET OF MINISTERS OF UKRAINE, food procurement, Prozorro Market
A working group has been created in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to protect Ukrainian citizens who have gone abroad during the war.
“On April 9, at a government meeting, a resolution was approved on the creation of a working group to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens of Ukraine located on the territory of the EU member states and other states as temporarily displaced persons. The co-chairs of the working group were appointed Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanyshina and Minister of Social Policy Marina Lazebnaya,” the government’s press service said in a statement.
It is noted that among the tasks of the working group: the use of the Diya application in the process of making social, compensation and other payments; cancellation of roaming charges when using mobile communications abroad; providing digital consular registration of citizens during their stay abroad; provision of educational services in Ukrainian; strengthening protection mechanisms against human trafficking; creating opportunities for citizens outside of Ukraine to obtain or confirm all necessary documentation; establishing cooperation between law enforcement agencies, social protection and migration authorities of Ukraine with the relevant authorities in the EU Member States; facilitating the rapid recognition of professional qualifications and other issues.
