Zelenskyy announces first meeting of new coalition to support energy sector

Ukraine's allies have launched a coalition to support the energy sector, which has been affected by Russian strikes. This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a meeting with Dutch Foreign Minister David van Wille in Kyiv.

The minister announces that the Netherlands has already allocated 25 million euros of urgent aid to Ukraine's energy sector and will join the so-called energy coalition.

At the same time, the President noted that the decision to organize a coalition to support Ukraine's energy sector was made recently. He said that its first meeting would be held in the coming days in a video format.

"Our first conversation will be this week, hopefully in the next few days anyway. And we will join forces. And this is what we will do. Strengthening energy, gas, and electricity," the Head of State explained.

He added that after Russia's next strikes, Ukraine may need to import electricity, which is also not free. The President reminded that Ukraine is united with the European energy network, but funding is needed.

"That is, we have the capabilities, but we may need financing for imports," the president added.

• Ukraine is discussing with partners additional assistance for gas purchases. Bloomberg sources estimate that Ukraine needs to import an additional 4.4 bcm by the end of winter. This could cost about 2 billion euros.
• The financial need of Ukrainian energy companies for equipment for repairs exceeds the budget of the Energy Support Fund by about 500 million euros.