Energy and Coal Industry Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Demchyshyn has said he opposes disconnecting Crimea from the power grid as proposed by a petition on the Ukrainian president's website.

"I personally do not support the position to disconnect [Crimea from power]. I think that everything should be resolved during talks," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.

Demchyshyn said that if a decision is made to disconnect the peninsula is made it could be implemented within 5 minutes.

He said that the issue has been raised as a part of the election campaign and will be forgotten afterwards.

He also said that Crimea pays for its electricity on time.

"Crimea pays on time and regularly, at least two times a month… They pay 3.95 Russian rubles per kWh this month – this is a large price," he said.

Demchyshyn is skeptical about Russia's plans to lay an underwater cable to supply power from Russia.

He said that the capacity of the cable would be small but big enough to cover consumption peaks and maintain the system in an emergency situation.