REUTERS
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine at today's government meeting adopted the decision proposed by Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman on the extension of emergency measures, introduced on the Ukrainian electricity market in mid-February to ensure stable energy supplies to consumers.
"The situation is very complicated. We did not have rolling blackouts only because we had created a margin of safety. But now this safety margin has been exhausted," Groysman said.
He also noted that he had warned earlier of the actions that could disrupt the country's energy balance, but expected that this would be the Russians who would block coal supplies in response to Ukraine's refusal to buy Russian gas.
Read alsoPoroshenko speaks on duration of goods transportation ban in ATO zone"However, the Russians did not have to do anything personally, they did it with someone else's hands. And we managed to keep the situation safe only because we had properly prepared for the heating season," the head of government emphasized.
Read alsoFinance ministry to calculate Ukraine's losses from blockade of occupied DonbasAs UNIAN reported earlier, a state of emergency in the Ukrainian energy sector was introduced mainly due to the blockade of anthracite supplies from the uncontrolled territories, which began in January. Despite the fact that coal was mined by Ukrainian-registered companies, shipment and delivery of their products were actually halted. The coal has not been supplied to thermal power plants and metallurgical enterprises since February 10, which may stop heat and electricity generation, as well as breach production contracts and reduce revenues of steel companies.