Ukraine has a billion-dollar winter survival plan. It just can't pay for it yet.

As Russian drones and missiles continue to pound Ukraine's war-damaged energy infrastructure, Kyiv is struggling to find funding for a 5.4 billion euro ($6.2 billion) "energy resilience plan" first announced in spring.

The next few months are a race against time to prepare for what energy experts warn will be another difficult winter under constant Russian bombardment. Ukraine not only needs to repair equipment after Russia wiped out nine gigawatts of power generation last winter, but also develop backup power and water supplies and build protective fortifications around critical sites.

The Ukrainian government's answer to keeping the lights and heating on is a multi-year "energy resilience plan" implemented by local authorities nationwide. The goal is to ensure communities are prepared when Russia resumes large-scale attacks on the energy system, rather than scrambling for new equipment under fire.

But the government has run into a major snag: funding, four people involved in Ukraine's energy sector told the Kyiv Independent. While financing talks are ongoing with international partners, including the EU, Ukraine’s government is currently the one footing the bill as the energy sector works against the clock to prepare for winter.

First discussed among government officials in January, Ukraine's resilience plan was publicly unveiled by Oleksii Kuleba, the minister for the development of communities and territories, in Brussels on March 23 during the EU Preparedness Union Strategy conference.

The EU has been Ukraine's biggest supporter in the energy sector, providing 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) in assistance during Russia's full-scale invasion. But a separate support package for the resilience plan is not on the table, particularly after Brussels inked a massive 90 billion euro loan in April, one European Commission spokesperson told the Kyiv Independent, speaking on condition of anonymity.

According to two Ukrainian energy officials, Kyiv is looking at ways to fund the plan with part of the 90 billion euro support loan, which will be delivered in separate tranches for defense and civilian needs.

The Kyiv Independent sent a request to the Energy Ministry asking how Kyiv planned to finance the 5.4 billion euro resilience plan, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

In the meantime, the government has earmarked over Hr 25 billion ($557 million) from the state budget with an additional Hr 40 billion ($890 million) pending parliamentary approval, the Development of Communities and Territories Ministry's press service told the Kyiv Independent on June 8.

Physical protection is already being built around vulnerable critical infrastructure, and the procurement of new modular boiler houses — transportable heating systems — will begin soon, the ministry said. Other priorities include an "uninterrupted" water supply and a "reliable" heating supply, the ministry added.

But many regions are running behind the September deadline to complete the plan, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 20. "Unfortunately, as of today, not all regions are working at the level required to protect people," he wrote on social media.

One of the most urgent situations is in Kyiv, which suffered heavily last winter partially due to poor management, and where preparation work is currently lagging behind schedule. The government approved an additional Hr 2 billion  ($45 million) in funding to speed things up in the capital on June 5, nearly a month after Mayor Vitali Klitschko allotted Hr 9 billion ($200 million) from the City Council.

"The state is taking on a significant portion of the financial burden," Kuleba wrote on social media on June 5.

"At the same time, it is important that all planned measures be implemented quickly and in full."

Author's note:

Hi, it’s Dominic, thank you for reading this story. It's hard to think about another winter without heating and electricity — the last one was hard enough. But Russia will resume its mass bombing campaign on Ukraine's energy system and we need to be prepared. Fortunately, our incredible community supported us through last winter. Without them, we wouldn't have been able to keep bringing you the news. So, if you want to be become a part of the incredible Kyiv Independent community, you can sign up here for as little as a cup of coffee a month.