A virtual dialogue took place on Telegram due to the increase in electricity tariffs, which may likely be associated with the costs of constructing new units of the Khmelnytsky NPP. The dialogue took place between officials of the Ministry of Energy and the people's deputy of " The Ministry of Energy accused Zheleznyak of lying about tariffs. In response, he stated that he said everything correctly and this is confirmed by the department’s message. The people's deputy's arguments appeared on his Telegram channel.

The People's Deputy analyzed the commentary of the Ministry of Energy, which called his statement about the increase in tariffs and the construction of new power units at KhNPP a lie.. He drew attention to the thesis that the units will be financed by the “own funds” of NNEGC Energoatom.. Meanwhile, “own funds” are money received from the population as payment for electricity. The politician recalled that in 2024 these tariffs increased by 70%: they were supposed to compensate for the construction of protection against Russian missiles and restoration from attacks. According to him, neither the first nor the second was done, that is, these funds were earmarked for power units.

“The Ministry of Energy, together with Energoatom, is trying to deceive everyone by saying that tariff increase blocks are not funded, although in fact this is the case,” Zheleznyak wrote.

The politician also said that thanks to the increase in tariffs, citizens received UAH 30 billion in 2024, and in subsequent years they will receive UAH 60 billion each time.

After Zheleznyak’s publication, a new statement was published. According to the author of the message in the Ministry of Energy channel, “Yaroslav Zheleznyak actually admitted that he had lied before”. Two points are noted. Firstly, he previously allegedly talked about tariff increases in the past, and now he’s talking about the future. Secondly, he is not telling the truth about the absence of consequences of Russian strikes: these consequences exist and power engineers are fighting them.

Note that Focus wrote about the statement of the Ministry of Energy, released on January 15. The statement is devoted to three issues: the increase in electricity tariffs, the construction of new KhNPP power units, the behavior of Zheleznyak. First, the note explained that they will not raise tariffs for the population, since they have other sources for financing power units.

Then they noted that new blocks, on the contrary, will reduce tariffs. Finally, they summed up that the people’s deputy is simply not interested in the issue, since he did not come to the meeting with the minister, which took place the day before.

We remind you that on the night of January 15, the Russian Armed Forces launched 40 missiles of various types across Ukraine: NEC Ukrenergo reported preventive shutdowns, and NJSC Naftogaz reported a threat to gas infrastructure.