Energy Community Secretariat and Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy reiterate critical energy needs for next winter    

Energy Community Secretariat Director Artur Lorkowski met with First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal in Berlin on Tuesday to discuss how to accelerate support for Ukraine’s energy system through the Ukraine Energy Support Fund as the country recovers from an exceptionally difficult heating season and advances early preparation for another winter at war. 

 As the Fund, which is administered by the Secretariat, continues to translate donor contributions into equipment, repairs and preparedness measures, available resources are being rapidly absorbed by Ukraine’s urgent and evolving needs.

With nearly all available resources already allocated, the Ministry and the Secretariat jointly indicated to the international community that EUR 773 million of fresh and flexible funding is swiftly needed to satisfy urgent, prioritised needs. These include building rapid-dispatch strategic reserves and enabling critical repairs and preparations ahead of next winter. 

Drawing on lessons learned from more than four years of joint operation, Shmyhal and Lorkowski's meeting focused on operational coordination, along with syncing the efforts to communicate the urgency and scale of required new contributions enabling Ukraine to cope with the next winter. This work is also shaping joint preparations for the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026, where the Ministry of Energy, the Energy Community Secretariat, and international partners aim to mobilise continued support for Ukraine’s energy resilience.

Sustained donor trust in the Fund has been critical to supporting Ukraine through this challenging time, with over EUR 670 million received in signed contributions from the Fund’s donor community since November 2025. This has translated into concrete impact. By the end of 2025, more than 70% of contracted support was reported delivered to Ukraine, reaching almost 70 energy companies across 23 regions and directly answering the country's most critical needs, as prioritised by the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine.