Ukraine has enough energy resource deposits and means to supply them to sharply increase its energy independence and reduce the energy shortage along with the introduction of market mechanisms in the fuel and energy sector, Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn has said.

"The key diver is the invisible hand of Adam Smith. Everything we are doing is attempts to switch from political processes to pure economics," the minister said at the 13th international forum "Fuel and Energy Complex of Ukraine: The Present and the Future," held in Kyiv on Tuesday, adding that the market should be manageable.

Demchyshyn gave the situation on the Ukrainian gas market as an example: it is inappropriate for Ukraine to import gas, even if the price falls from $350 per 1,000 cubic meters and higher to less than $250 per 1,000 cubic meters with deposits of around 1 trillion cubic meters and well-developed gas distribution pipelines.

"We should develop internal extraction and facilitate the conditions, decrease the number of permits, and make royalties reasonable and economically justifiable," he said.

Regarding the power sector, he drew attention to the closed and unused capacity of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the amount of over 1.5 GW, which could be unblocked within six months thanks to two small projects on power lines construction and additional investment in the power transmission systems. Demchyshyn said that the construction of these units would cost $3-5 billion and would take up to five years to complete, while the Kyiv-Rivne NPP power line, which would unblock 1 GW of capacity, would cost slightly over $300 million.