The ITRE Committee, which I lead in the European Parliament, is tasked with helping Ukraine strengthen its security of supply and energy independence.

Our priority is to synchronize the Ukrainian power grid with the Continental European network as soon as possible. This should also include the synchronisation of the Moldovan power grid, another country that wants to be able to choose its energy future. We must also continue our work of delivering gas to Ukraine through the reverse physical capacity of gas flow from west to east. We must be prepared to face all the challenges posed by the current bloody war, started by the Russian Federation.The Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, was our guest today for the debates in the ITRE Committee. Together we discussed the storage of gas in the European Union and the increase in capacities that would allow us to store it. Today, the EU's capacity is only 30%. Completely insufficient for the real need we have. Europe can no longer remain dependent on Russian gas. This requires, on the one hand, an increase in storage capacity, but also an increase in the quantity of imports of liquefied gas. We must also recognise the potential of nuclear energy, which is considered clean energy by the European Commission, and invest in the infrastructure of renewable sources, such as solar and wind energy. At today's debate Commissioner Simson said that "Ukraine has decoupled its electricity network from the Russian one for an isolation test. The test, planned a long time ago coincided with military aggression, but it went well and proved that the Ukrainian system can successfully operate on its own." Kadri Simson also stressed that he is in a permanent dialogue with the Government of Kiev and expressed his political support for the synchronization of the Ukrainian and Moldovan network with Continental Europe.The sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union, including the ban on the export of specific refining technologies to Russia from Europe, will gradually affect Moscow's revenues, commissioner Simson said." This will make it more difficult and costly to modernize Russian oil refineries. These technologies are built in Europe and cannot be easily replaced globally by other suppliers. We will see that, over time, there will be a decrease in revenues from refined oil, which in 2019 generated revenues of 24 billion euros for Russia," Kadri Simson said at the ITRE Committee meeting. The European Commission stands ready to propose extraordinary measures in the event of a price increase that threatens the social and economic resilience of the EU. In December 2021, the Commission proposed an amendment to the Security of Gas Supply Regulation to allow for joint procurement of strategic stocks, as well as strengthening solidarity between Member States. Kadri Simson said that, in the current context, it is "essential that the December package is adopted as soon as possible". The ITRE Commission condemns the Russian military aggression and stands by the Ukrainians in their struggle to defend their country, their lives and their freedom. We admire their heroism in defending our common values and will continue to do our best to help them in their struggle for independence.