Ms Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze:

With regard to sanctions and energy security, we can not only be part of the problem, but part of the solution. It is important to understand that, having decoupled from the Russian grids and connected to the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity, ENTSO-E, system, Ukraine can, even now, export electricity to the European Union. The urgent ENTSO-E connection envisaged that there would not be a commercial flow of electricity from Ukraine to the European Union but that can, and should, be reconsidered because, while the supply is not a lot at the moment, we can supply 3% of the European Union's needs, that is, we can supply electricity to substitute for some of the gas consumed. It is important to understand that there are some possibilities here that have not been exploited yet.

In the context of oil, we are experiencing extreme shortages of gasoline and diesel because Russia has totally destroyed our refinery capacity and deliberately targeted our storage facilities across the country, regardless of whether they were state- or privately owned. We are now looking for options to get more of the fuels that we need through the bottleneck on the western part of our border, which is also a life vein for us. We need these fuels first and foremost for our agriculture sector and armed forces but we also need them for all of the other parts of the economy. We need to be capable of relying on the supply for our people to live. That is another area where the engagement of the committee is very much needed, that is, in trying to secure further volumes to meet those urgent needs of Ukraine. That is where we are.

We are still transporting Russian gas to the European Union. Obviously, we would very much like to cut that dependency on transportation to zero, but that would require other sanctions. The EU is now discussing an oil embargo but we see how much difficulty there is with gas. As we have heard from many colleagues, a gas embargo is obviously far from being apprehended as a clear possibility. Europe has to look at a target of zero dependency on Russian energy sources. The mistakes that have been made in recent decades in increasing the dependency of certain European countries on Russian energy resources are now being paid for. We definitely understand it will take time to introduce a gas embargo but it is the major thing that has to be achieved. I do not see the sixth package, if and when it is agreed, being the last package that would need to be introduced against the monstrous aggressor that is the Russian Federation.