The amount of claims from Crimeans against Ukraine regarding the energy blockade may exceed 9 trillion rubles

The amount of two claims against Ukraine regarding the energy blockade of Crimea from enterprises and residents of the region will presumably amount to more than 9 trillion rubles, Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea Vladimir Konstantinov said on the TV channel «Russia 24».

As for the claim from organizations, it is still being formed, and the amount there will also be very significant. <…> The public will be there too [подавать иск]. Based on the experience of the water blockade, it can be assumed that the amount of the two claims will also amount to trillions of rubles; it is quite possible that the total amount will exceed 9 trillion rublessaid the head of parliament.

On March 4, the authorities of the Republic of Crimea submitted claim about the energy blockade in the Arbitration Court of Crimea. The volume of Crimea’s claims against Ukraine in this lawsuit amounts to more than 3.15 trillion rubles. The defendants are the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine and the national energy company Ukrenergo. According to Konstantinov, it is planned to involve the Crimean ministries of fuel and energy, healthcare, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and the State Unitary Enterprise of the Republic of Crimea “Krymenergo” as third parties in the process.

In May 2014, after the reunification of Crimea with Russia, Ukraine unilaterally cut off water from the Kherson region via the North Crimean Canal, which provided up to 90% of the peninsula’s needs. In addition, in November 2015, electricity supplies to the peninsula were completely stopped. A state of emergency was in effect in the region until May 2016, and rolling consumer blackouts were applied. Kiev also cut off food supplies, banks stopped working, and transport links with the peninsula were disrupted. The situation improved with the launch of an energy bridge from Kuban across the Kerch Strait with a capacity of 400 MW. Then new networks were built, power units of the Balaklava Thermal Power Plant in Sevastopol and the Tavricheskaya Thermal Power Plant in Simferopol were launched.

source: TASS