The Government of the Netherlands has ordered the supply of 5 million LED light bulbs to Ukraine to reduce the load on local energy networks. This became known on Friday, February 17.
The decision was made during a meeting with the Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Sviridenko in Kyiv. Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lishe Schreinemacher assured that in total it is planned to replace 50 million incandescent lamps in Ukraine as part of the Enlighten Ukraine initiative. This is expected to reduce electricity consumption by 10%.
“According to the President [Украины Владимира] Zelensky, his country lacks an average of 2.5 GW of electricity. As part of this initiative, the EU has already supplied 30 million LED lamps,” reads the message website of the Dutch government.
Also noted is the assistance of the Netherlands to the Ukrainian energy systems with the supply of transformers, switching equipment and cables.
Earlier, on February 10, the national company Ukrenergo reported that there was a significant shortage of electricity in the energy system of Ukraine. According to company representatives, the most difficult situation is currently in the Kharkiv region, where emergency network outages continue.
On February 4, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that the European Union plans to transfer 2 GW of electricity to Kyiv. She also promised to supply Ukraine with 2.4 thousand generators and €120 million for the purchase of critical energy equipment.
On January 18, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said that more than half of all energy facilities in the country were damaged. He stressed that more than 160,000 infrastructure facilities and residential buildings require repair and restoration in the country.
In December, the head of the European Commission announced that a hub would start working in Poland to help Ukraine in the energy sector. She promised that the European Union would supply Ukraine with 30 million LED light bulbs.
Russian troops began to strike at Ukrainian military installations and related energy infrastructure from October 10, 2022. As Russian President Vladimir Putin explained then, this was a response to the terrorist actions of the Kyiv regime, in particular on the Crimean bridge.
Since February 24, 2022, Russia has been conducting a special operation to protect the Donbass, whose residents refused to recognize the results of the 2014 coup d’état in Ukraine. The decision to hold it was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by Ukrainian troops.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.