Ministry: Azerbaijan to provide Ukraine with new batch of energy equipment this year

Ukraine expects a new batch of equipment for the restoration of the country's energy grid from Azerbaijan by the end of 2023, the Ukrainian Energy Ministry said on Oct. 9.

The announcement came following a meeting between Ukraine's Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko and Azerbaijani Ambassador Seymur Mardaliyev.

"We highly value our cooperation with Azerbaijan in the energy sector, and we sincerely hope that this cooperation grows stronger," Halushchenko said.

According to the Ukrainian Energy Ministry, Baku already provided Ukraine with 10 shipments of humanitarian aid for the energy sector since the start of the full-scale invasion. This included 50 reserve power stations and 45 power transformers.

During the meeting, Halushchenko reportedly thanked Mardaliyev for Azerbaijan's assistance in maintaining Ukraine's energy system throughout the previous winter.

The ministry's press statement said that the meeting of the two officials also addressed deepening cooperation in the oil and gas industry between the countries.

With winter approaching, is Ukraine’s energy system ready for renewed Russian attacks?

The specter of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy system looms once again as winter rapidly approaches. Last year in early October, just as Ukraine’s heating season began, Russia launched a month-long series of missile and drone attacks against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, leading to blackouts…

The Kyiv IndependentAlexander Query

Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia would likely escalate its attacks against Ukraine's energy infrastructure in the coming fall and winter months. On Sept. 21, Ukraine's state energy operator Ukrenergo reported the first mass strike on the country's energy infrastructure in six months.

Moscow has attempted such a strategy already in the fall and winter of 2022-2023, causing regular blackouts amid freezing temperatures.

As of Aug. 13, the Ukrainian government said it had repaired 80% of the main power grids and high-voltage stations damaged by Russian attacks to their pre-war condition and that 62% of the planned repair work on power units had been completed at the country's thermal power stations.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal then announced ​​on Sept. 12 that over 80% of heating networks, 78% of central heating stations, and more than 80% of residential buildings, 86% of schools, kindergartens, and hospitals were ready for winter, adding that "it should be 100% in a month."