On May 13, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law that prohibits the import of electricity from Russia and Belarus, press service of the President's Office reports.
The law was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in the second reading on April 15, 2021.
The law provides for a possibility of certification of the electricity transmission system operator in accordance with the requirements of the European Union and, therefore, the law will pave the way for the integration of Ukrainian electricity system with the EU.
The law also authorizes the national regulator to suspend electricity imports from Russia and Belarus. To do this, the commission must annul all the results of auctions for access to interstate networks for supplies from Russia and Belarus, which are not members of the EU Energy Community.
It will be recalled that Ukraine has been importing electricity from Russia since the fall of 2019 after a four-year breakdue to the amendments to the Law "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine in the Sphere of Nuclear Energy Use" adopted on September 18, 2019.
In March 2020, Ukraine has introduced another ban on electricity import from Russia, however, since February 1, 2021, Ukraine has resumed the import of electricity from the Russian Federation.