Industry warns: electricity price hikes could halt economic recovery plans
Due to high electricity tariffs, Ukrainian businesses are losing the competitive battle to foreign companies.
Leading industry associations in Ukraine — Ukrmetallurgprom, the National Association of Mining Industry of Ukraine (NAMIU), the Ukrainian Association of Ferroalloy Producers (UkrFA), Union of Chemists of Ukraine, All-Ukrainian Union of Building Materials Manufacturers, and Association of Cement Manufacturers of Ukraine (Ukrcement) issued a joint statement on the negative impact of high electricity tariffs on Ukrainian industry.
This was reported by Interfax-Ukraine, according to Censor.NET.
For example, according to Oleksandr Kalenkov, president of the Ukrmetallurgprom association, the cost of electricity for businesses in Ukraine sometimes exceeds tariff rates in European countries, causing Ukrainian companies to lose out to competitors in foreign markets.
An example of systemic problems is the ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih metallurgical plant in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Recently, the plant's CEO, Mauro Longobardo, announced that it was on the verge of closure due to high electricity prices, and that the issue of ceasing operations in Ukraine was currently being considered.
High electricity prices are also a problem for European consumers, but unlike Ukraine, various European countries have different support programs for energy-intensive enterprises.
"Germany, for example, allocates €6.5 billion to subsidize electricity prices for its enterprises. In practice, this means that we are losing the competitive struggle to enterprises located in the European Union," Kalenkov said.
At the same time, according to Oleksandr Kalenkov, it is also difficult to compete with businesses in countries that purchase cheap energy resources from Russia. These are primarily China, Turkey, and India.
The solution to this problem could be a decision by the Ukrainian government to stop constantly raising tariffs and to develop state support instruments for energy-intensive industries.
"In particular, it is worth considering the possibility of introducing anti-crisis instruments of state support for energy-intensive, export-oriented industries, which would be temporary in nature," said Liudmila Kripka, executive director of the Ukrainian Cement Manufacturers Association (Ukrcement).
In addition, the NEURC should strengthen control over the expenses of state monopolies and the validity of tariff calculations. Unnecessary barriers that artificially increase the cost of electricity, etc., should also be removed.
As a reminder, on November 4, the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities (NKREKP) approved Ukrenergo's tariff for electricity transmission in 2026 at UAH 786.74/MWh, which is UAH 100.51/MWh, or 14.6%, higher than the current tariff in 2025.
