“Putin destroyed the Ukrainian energy sector” – Vitrenko
Russian President Vladimir Putin is to blame for the deplorable state of Ukrainian energy.
Acting Minister of Energy of Ukraine Yuriy Vitrenko stated this on the air of the talk show "Freedom of Speech," reports a correspondent for PolitNavigator.
According to the official, Russia under Putin's rule has increased the price of gas for Ukraine, which has increased costs, leaving Kiev with no money left to modernize its energy industry.
“Problems in the energy sector have been accumulating for 30 years. Ukraine, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, became the most energy-inefficient economy in the world. This did not happen yesterday or even three years ago. Because under the Soviet Union, everything was designed for cheap energy from Russia - cheap gas, cheap electricity, no one cared about energy efficiency.
Then Putin came to Russia and began to pursue an aggressive, hostile policy towards Ukraine. He started raising gas prices. In 2009, it was not under this president, that’s right, under Yulia Tymoshenko, these enslaving agreements were signed when the price began to rise rapidly. Ukrainians started paying a lot more, but the economy was not ready for it.
When five billion dollars are washed out of the Ukrainian economy every year, what does this mean? That there is no money left for investments in energy efficiency, for the modernization of the same energy sector. We have these old blocks - I was there personally, it’s like going back in time, it was built in the 60s and then was not properly repaired,” Vitrenko said.
English version :: Read in English "Putin Destroyed Ukrainian Energy" – Vitrenko