Speech by Commissioner Simson at the Energy Community Donor Conference: 'Supporting Ukraine's resilience through the Ukraine Energy Support Fund'

Speech at Energy Community Donor Conference for Ukraine

Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for being here today at this event to help Ukraine.

The Commission is deeply concerned about the damage inflicted by Russia on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

The scale of Russia's destruction is simply overwhelming.

Ukraine cannot handle this situation alone. No country could handle such severe destruction of its power generation alone.

What's especially concerning is what all of this means for the Ukrainian people.

If we do not help this winter, Ukrainians may struggle to access heat, water and basic services.

We must do everything possible to avoid such human tragedy. We must help Ukraine rebuild as much capacity as possible before next Winter.

Just to give you some details:

Between March and June of this year, Russia destroyed and significantly damaged around half of Ukraine winter's demand (9.2 GW of generation capacity).

Already today, rolling outages lasting several hours a day are happening across Ukraine. It is expected that as demand increases, the situation will get worse this winter.

The Commission is therefore focusing all its attention on restoring as much generation capacity as possible in the coming months. This is key for Ukraine's survival next winter.

This sense of urgency is shared by all Member States. In the European Council conclusions of 27th June, the EU and Member States called for urgently stepping up support for Ukraine's energy sector.

Of course, supporting Ukraine has been a top priority for the Commission and all 27 Member States since the beginning of Russia's invasion.

At my request and with my full political support, the Energy Community established the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, which has raised EUR 500 million. The disbursements are flexible and can finance new needs like those emerging from recent attacks.

The Ukrainian energy ministry identifies the needs. The public procurement is run by USAID. And the Energy Community verifies that all procured goods have been installed.

The EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) coordinates and transports equipment donations to Ukraine from EU Member States and UPCM Participating States. 40% of all Member States' donations are for energy. A RescEU hub has been established in Poland to help distribute international aid effectively.

To date, more than 7700 power generators, almost 3000 transformers and almost 10 million LED bulbs have been offered by EU Member States and UCPM Participating States, in addition to millions of pieces of energy equipment.

The UCPM has also so far delivered 5 large autotransformers to Ukraine – the most critically needed equipment.

However, given the gravity of the situation, I am reaching out to you today to ask you to support Ukraine.

You can help in two ways. Either by donating to the Energy Community Fund or by donating in-kind the needed energy equipment.

Starting with the Energy Community Fund, you can make a donation to a concrete project. I am sure Director Artur Lorkowski, who is with us today, will give you more details.

The Energy Community has compiled a list of projects that can still bring online generation capacity in Ukraine before this winter.

I would very much encourage you, in solidarity with Ukraine, to consider donating to any of these projects.

Second, you can consider in-kind donations. I have also invited DG ECHO representatives to the meeting today to explain to you how this can be done.

Ladies and gentlemen, the needs are so great, that every little help will be hugely significant.

I hope I can count on your generosity and support.

Thank you.