Romania will continue to provide emergency energy resources to Ukraine, but there is a problem of capacity and interconnectivity, because Europe, through its network of energy operators, has an export capacity to Ukraine of only 1.7 GW, said Adrian Bazavan, advisor for international relations to the Minister of Energy.

“Ukraine needs short-term emergency aid and long-term aid to rebuild a more resilient energy system. When we talk about rebuilding Ukraine, we’re not just talking about the energy system, making it the way it was before the damage, but we do it better. Romania will continue to provide emergency energy resources to Ukraine, but we have a capacity and interconnectivity problem with Ukraine, because Europe, through its network of energy operators, has an export capacity to Ukraine of 1.7 GW, but we are thinking of increasing it to 2 GW. We need to find solutions much faster,” said Adrian Bazavan, according to Agerpres.

He mentioned that, before the war, it was not a priority for Romania or Ukraine to connect their energy systems, this being a vulnerability that can be seen now.

“We have limited capacity when we talk about electricity and gas. In the long term, when we are looking at the reconstruction of Ukraine, we need to increase the interconnectivity capacity quickly. Ukraine is a candidate member of the European Union. We hope to join the Union as soon as possible quickly and then the rules of the energy market will be the same for Ukraine”, Adrian Bazavan said.

At the same time, he specified that, on December 31, 2024, the gas transport contract between Russia and Ukraine will expire and will not be renewed.

“That is why we and the Republic of Moldova must find ways to supply gas to Ukraine through the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline that carries gas from LNG terminals in Qatar and Western Europe to Ukraine. We must make efforts so that neither Ukraine nor the Republic of Moldova not to be cold in winter. We must remain optimistic about the future and act very quickly, because winter is coming,” added the dignitary.

According to him, 11 million people from Ukraine could be displaced because of the frosty winter, not the war.

“It is our moral duty to support Ukraine. In addition to this moral duty that we have, we also have a pragmatic duty, from a national security point of view, to support and help Ukraine. We know that winter is coming and this news is important, especially when we talk about energy infrastructure, and Ukraine has an energy deficit because Russia has affected more than half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, both production and distribution. We are talking about gas, we are talking about electricity, we are talking about thermal energy and as winter approaches, these needs of Ukraine increase. 11 million people in Ukraine may end up being displaced because of the frosty winter, not because of the war,” added Adrian Bazavan.