First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal held an online meeting with Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Katherina Reiche. The parties discussed progress in implementing previously reached agreements, including those made during their meeting in Berlin in April this year. The key priority remains strengthening Ukraine’s energy system ahead of winter and building additional resilience for the future.

Denys Shmyhal noted that Ukraine highly values Germany’s support in financing the dismantling and transportation of equipment from decommissioned European power plants. In particular, he thanked the German partners for their prompt assistance in implementing such a project at the Riga CHP plant, where work has already commenced. Germany’s Federal Foreign Office has earmarked more than €1 million for this purpose.

“We expect the equipment to arrive in Ukraine during the summer and to be deployed at energy facilities in Kharkiv and Kyiv. At the same time, we continue working jointly on similar projects in Latvia, Slovakia, Austria, Croatia and other countries,” Denys Shmyhal stated.

The parties also discussed the creation of strategic reserves of energy equipment. In the near future, the Ministry of Energy will provide German partners with a list of the Ukrainian energy sector’s key needs.

Another important area of cooperation is the development of the biomethane market. According to the Minister, efforts are ongoing to secure recognition of Ukrainian biomethane and guarantees of origin within the EU market, as well as to ensure Ukrainian producers’ access to European support mechanisms, including those available in Germany.

The meeting also covered the new Ukraine Connect financing instrument established by Germany to support private investment in Ukraine. Denys Shmyhal expressed confidence that it would facilitate the implementation of a number of new projects in the energy sector.

Denys Shmyhal expressed his gratitude to Germany for its unwavering solidarity with Ukraine:

“Today, Germany is one of the largest contributors to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, with contributions already exceeding €552 million. We also highly appreciate the €4.75 million KfW grant provided in April this year to support Ukraine’s energy system. We count on our partners’ continued leadership in strengthening our country’s energy resilience ahead of the next autumn-winter period,” Denys Shmyhal emphasized.