Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko said at a press conference in Kyiv that the ban allowed Ukraine to pass the winter without importing coal. At the beginning of the heating season, the country had more than two million tons of coal in reserve. At the end of the season these reserves amounted to 1.2 million tons, and now the amount has increased to 1.5 million tons.
In addition, sufficient gas reserves allowed the coal-fired units of the TPP to operate smoothly during power shortages due to the shelling of the energy infrastructure by the Russian invaders. Today, Ukraine has more than nine billion cubic meters of gas in underground storage, including processed gas.
In comparison, Ukraine needs to accumulate 14.5 billion cubic meters for the coming heating season for its domestic needs.
As for electricity, according to the minister its export will be ceased in the event of insufficient generation capacity to provide for domestic consumer use.