Kyiv City Council session intended to approve capital's energy resilience plan was disrupted – Poroshenko
People's Deputy of Ukraine and leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko claims that the Kyiv City Council session on Monday, March 9, which was supposed to adopt a comprehensive resilience plan for Kyiv, was disrupted, according to the political force's website.
"Yesterday, an extraordinary event took place in Kyiv... The ruling party and its satellites disrupted the Kyiv City Council session just when the issues of winter preparation and ensuring Kyiv's energy supply were to be considered," Poroshenko said during a speech from the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada on Tuesday.
As reported, at an National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) meeting on March 3, energy resilience plans for the upcoming heating seasons were approved for each region and regional center, as submitted by local authorities. However, Kyiv—which holds a special status and is not part of the Kyiv region—was granted additional time to prepare the relevant documents. Petro Panteleiev, acting first deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration, stated that Kyiv authorities submitted proposals for the energy resilience plan to the relevant ministry on time and presented them at the NSDC meeting. He also released the public portion of the document.
In contrast, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that "as of today, Kyiv was not ready—just as it wasn't for this winter. We must manage to prepare for the next one and fulfill every task."
Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko reported that the total cost for implementing all resilience plans across the country is UAH 215 billion, and that alongside restoration, Kyiv must have a plan for decentralized heat supply. She noted that Kyiv had submitted its resilience plan, but it was not signed by the mayor, and specified that the NSDC decision gave Kyiv one week to submit the plan properly formalized.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko expressed his opinion regarding "special" treatment of Kyiv in the formation and implementation of the city's resilience plan. He later announced that the Comprehensive Resilience Plan for the capital of Ukraine would be adjusted and brought to the Kyiv City Council for discussion on Monday, March 9.
Poroshenko participated in the Kyiv City Council session on Monday and advocated for the issuance of special domestic government bonds to resolve Kyiv's energy supply issues. He also stated the need to allow city authorities to independently mobilize international technical assistance.
However, on the same day, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko, stated that "Klitschko was unable to gather the deputies to approve the long-awaited energy resilience plan for Kyiv" and expressed his conviction that "the mayor has the authority, the right, and the duty to approve the energy resilience plan independently."
