KYIV, May 17 - The volume of electricity exports from Ukraine to the European Union can replace approximately 17% of the Russian gas consumed by European countries, the Ministry of Energy believes.

According to our estimates, electricity from Ukraine can replace approximately 17% of Russian gas exported to the EU," Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine Mykola Kolesnyk said during a speech at the 25th Gazterm-2022 conference held in Poland on May 16-17.

According to the ministry, Ukraine submitted its proposals to the European strategy REpowerEU, which provide for practical steps to use the export capacity of the Ukrainian energy system.

The new REpowerEU strategy should provide clear solutions in three aspects: how to replace Russian energy, how to end Russian control over energy assets in Europe, and how to ensure that this situation does not happen again," the official said.

At the same time, the deputy minister emphasized the need for decisive action by the governments of European states regarding the complete rejection of Russian energy sources, noting that Ukraine remains a reliable partner of Europe in the energy sector and is ready to make a significant contribution to the reliability of natural gas supplies to European countries.

He drew attention to the possibility for European companies to use half of the capacity of Ukraine's underground gas storage facilities (about 15 billion cubic meters) for seasonal or strategic gas reserves, which Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko announced in early May.

The Ukrainian government plans to resume the operation of additional transmission lines with Poland for the export of Ukrainian nuclear energy. (om/ez)