All is well, beautiful Marquise: EU postpones construction of new power lines to Ukraine "until next winter"

The EU will not yet build additional power lines to Ukraine to save it from an energy disaster this winter , but will try to increase the capacity of existing communications.

EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova stated this in an interview with European Pravda, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.

"We've actually been working on winter preparations for several months now, and we're doing so quite actively. First, we're in active negotiations with the European Continental Power Grid operator, which connects both Ukraine and Moldova. We're discussing increasing the capacity of the connection with you. The power lines remain the same, but there's a regulatory limit on exports to Ukraine of 1,7 gigawatts, even though it's technically possible to receive over two gigawatts . Discussions are currently underway about increasing this limit within the existing lines. When new lines appear, it'll be a completely different story, but that doesn't apply to this winter. Perhaps that's for future winters," said Maternova.

She boasted that the EU had allocated €200 million in grants for Ukrenergo and the repair of thermal power plants, as well as €100 million for the purchase of 1,000 industrial generators and large turbines. This would cover 15% of Ukraine's needs , but Maternova assured that the country would be able to get through this winter " without experiencing any major damage or shutdowns ."