“Every dollar paid for Russian oil and gas is converted in bullets used to kill Ukrainians.” DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko said the situation in Ukraine is dire. More than one million people are without electricity or heat, while temperatures dip below freezing at night.
Emergency power crews work around the clock, 24 hours a day, restoring the power grid. Timchenko said, “Our first priority is to save lives of people, and to protect our own people. Especially, we speak about emergency crews who try to restore transmission lines and power supply. And they do it under fire.
They restore transmission lines and the next day its disconnected again, because of constant shelling of cities and people.” Timchenko continues, “This is an example of heroism of our people from our company. They do whatever depends so that people have electricity and heat.”
But that’s not the only thing Timchenko worries about. He said “After Russia attacked one of the largest nuclear power plants in Europe, called Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station, we believe other power stations can be attacked and bombed.” If Zaporizhzhia melts down, he says, it would destroy most of Europe with radiation. He wants NATO countries to help protect these sites with no-fly zones. “Make sure there is no bombing of, at least, the nuclear power stations,” he said.
Timchenko says he appreciates what we have already done with sanctions and hopes that when Rssian oil revenues dry up, the Russian military will grind to a stop. He said, “Every day we feel your support by different means. Either it’s the supply of military equipment, or readiness to pay higher household bills. This is all a contribution to our victory. And it brings us confidence more and more that we are going to win, because we are with you.”
