The United States plans to support Ukraine in restoring, diversifying and protecting its energy sector from Russian attacks, and will help adapt it to European standards, as these are key priorities of the Ukrainian government. Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Jeffrey Payette said this in an interview with the Voice of America, UNN reports.
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Jeffrey Payette noted that out of the total amount of $824 million announced by the US Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker during a conference in Berlin to support the energy sector, $500 million is new money. The remaining $324 million had already been approved by Congress, but has now been redirected to urgently rebuild the energy grid, which has been hit by targeted attacks by Russia in recent weeks.
As for the priorities of American assistance, Pyatt emphasized that they include support for the entire sector and its reform. This means that, in addition to restoring old production facilities, it is planned to introduce new environmentally friendly energy sources, which should make the Ukrainian energy system more sustainable.
Our actions are guided by the priorities of the Ukrainian government. The honest answer is that we have to do everything. That's why we are trying to help with the reconstruction of the old thermal power plant, which was destroyed by Putin's attacks since March 22. We're also trying to accelerate work on new energy, more wind, more solar, more storage. We have also heard the government say that they want to build a future energy system that is decentralized, so inherently more resilient to Russian air attacks, and we support all the work that the government is doing
He emphasized that the most important task is to protect Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
Of course, we are helping with more air defense, because that is also the number one requirement. For Ukraine's partners, he said, it is important that Putin does not succeed in destroying Ukraine's infrastructure and cannot turn winter into a weapon against Ukraine. The United States is going to lead the international effort to ensure that Ukraine achieves victory
He said that Ukraine has made significant progress in increasing the transparency and accountability of the energy sector, which has contributed to its greater efficiency.
It's getting better. I mean, let me give you one example, Oleksiy Chernyshov, the CEO of Naftogaz, a company that has had huge problems in the past, partly because Russia used the transit and sale of gas as a vector of corruption to maintain control over the people of Ukraine. The answer to this is to create a corporate governance structure that meets the highest standards of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union, and Chernyshov is committed to this process, he has created a new advisory board that has credible international partners
Although this does not mean a complete solution to the problems, the company's recent performance indicates an increase in gas production from domestic sources, which is an important step forward, according to Pyatt. He also expressed hope that Ukraine's integration into the European Union would further the reforms he supported as U.S. Ambassador to Kyiv.
This is a very personal issue for me, because I have been working on these issues, helping the people of Ukraine for 11 years. The instructions and the roadmap are very clear. In the EU accession agreement, it is very important that we heard today from President (of the European Commission Ursula) von der Leyen, who reaffirmed the commitment to start accession negotiations by the end of June and thinks of Ukraine as a future member of the European Union
He added that this is what the Ukrainians who took to the Maidan in 2013 were fighting for, but “there is still a lot of work to be done.
My team and the Energy Bureau are very involved in the corporate governance of Naftogaz... around the whole energy sector. I've seen so much opacity in the past, but in terms of what needs to be done, this is what the Ukrainian people demand, this is what the Ukrainian people expect, and these are also all steps that are part of Ukraine's becoming an EU member
Recall
Following the recovery conference , Germany will make a new contribution to the Energy Support Fund for Ukraine in the amount of 50 million euros.