Ukraine has officially banned the import of electricity from Belarus and Russia on May 26.
The country’s energy regulator, the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission (NEURC) ruled to keep the restriction in place until Oct. 1. In January and February, Ukraine imported up to 2% of its electricity from Russia and Belarus.
“This winter imports were necessary, but this does not mean that we will not extend the ban further if needed,” said Commission Head Valery Tarasyuk.
The decision will benefit DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, owned by oligarch Rinat Akhmetov.
DTEK controls 70% of Ukraine’s coal market and is responsible for up to 30% of Ukraine’s energy production.
In March 2021, the regulator imposed the maximum possible fine of Hr 5.1 million ($182,000) against three DTEK plants for deliberately cutting coal supplies during the coldest weeks of winter, which Tarasyuk called a matter of “national security.”
This is not the first time that Ukraine has banned electricity imports from Russia and Belarus.
After restarting the import of electricity from the two countries in 2019, the regulator halted imports again in April 2020. However, the regulator lifted the ban in December, due to winter power shortages.
Business, not politics
The decision to halt electricity imports from Belarus and Russia has nothing to do with human rights violations in the neighboring countries.
According to Tarasyuk, the regulator is not a political institution, and the decision only concerns the interests of Ukrainian consumers and energy producers.
The Ministry of Energy requested to assess the possibility of an import ban on May 15, a week before Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko ordered the hijacking of a Ryanair plane to kidnap opposition journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega.
The decision to close Ukraine’s energy market is President Volodymyr Zelensky’s latest attempt to make Energoatom, the state-owned nuclear power producer, profitable.
In 2020, the company which produces over 50% of Ukraine’s electricity suffered $177 million in losses, the worst financial result of the past three years.
On April 29, Herman Halushchenko, the company’s vice president, was appointed as the country’s new energy minister.
“Concerning Energoatom, this is a complicated story,” said Zelensky on May 20.
“They have been tasked with reaching at least $ 500 million in profit this year,” he added. “In a year, they should earn $1 billion for the state. You will see, they’ll do it,” Zelensky said.
