Zelensky urges energy sector to speed up winter preparedness

President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the energy sector to accelerate preparations for the coming winter, warning that reforms and resilience efforts are lagging behind.

During a meeting with Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal on July 12, Zelensky stressed the need to take additional "more decisive" steps to protect Ukraine's energy infrastructure and emphasized the importance of robust winter preparedness plans for communities and regions.

He said the intergovernmental agreements reached so far this year on energy and reconstruction are insufficient and that Ukraine "needs to be stronger."

"The implementation of resilience plans for Ukrainian regions and communities must be high quality, and any lag in one region poses a threat to people's lives," he wrote.

As the Kyiv Independent previously reported, Ukraine is underprepared for the coming winter and has failed to secure funding for its 5.4 billion euro ($6.2 billion) energy resilience plan.

Officials have warned that this winter could be even harsher than the last, when prolonged blackouts and heating outages pushed millions of Ukrainians into a humanitarian crisis during sub-zero temperatures as Russia targeted Ukraine's energy facilities.

One of the main problems is the lack of reforms at state-owned energy companies, which provide the majority of Ukraine's energy supply. Zelensky announced an overhaul of state-owned energy companies last November following a corruption scandal at state-run nuclear operator Energoatom.

In a separate statement on July 12, Zelensky said the transformation of state-owned companies must be "accelerated" to strengthen Ukraine's resilience. Companies such as Energoatom have failed to implement meaningful reforms, the Kyiv Independent previously reported.

At the same time, Zelensky praised the performance of state-owned oil and gas companies Ukrnafta and Naftogaz, saying both had met their national performance targets despite repeated Russian attacks. He thanked Naftogaz CEO Serhii Koretskyi for his work and said they discussed ways to further strengthen Ukraine's resilience.

The president also spoke with Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov about implementing resilience measures and winter preparedness plans. After Kharkiv received recognition for its readiness last winter, Zelensky suggested the city's experience could help other Ukrainian cities and communities.

Kyiv, by contrast, was widely criticized for its handling of the energy crisis. Rather than taking responsibility, Mayor Vitali Klitschko and the central government traded blame, while the capital remains underprepared for the coming winter as the dispute continues.