EU Ambassador to Ukraine urged to prepare for a harsh winter.

The European Union has allocated funds to support Ukraine's energy sector ahead of the challenging winter

The European Union Ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, stated that the upcoming winter will be tough for Ukraine, but her hopes to avoid a catastrophe remain.

According to Mathernova, the EU provided 100 million euros for Ukraine's winter preparations and another 100 million through the Credit Institution for Reconstruction (KFW) to strengthen the energy sector operator «Ukrenergo».

Mathernova also emphasized the importance of the civil protection mechanism, which ensures the supply of energy resources and equipment for emergencies. The equipment comes from EU member states, as well as other donors such as Japan, Korea, and Canada.

In addition, the EU provided over 1000 high-voltage generators and small turbines to help Ukrainians prepare for winter.

Mathernova also noted that the European Commission is working on increasing the maximum volume of electricity supply to Ukraine.

According to forecasts by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, Ukrainians should expect power outages lasting up to 18 hours a day this winter.

Given the increase in electricity consumption levels in Ukraine, the hourly outage schedules were canceled starting from September 9.

Despite this, international partners do not support the construction of a third level of passive protection at NAK «Ukrenergo» substations until testing of this technology is conducted.