---
title: "Kudritsky: Artificial price caps hinder Ukraine from fully importing electricity from Europe"
description: "Former head of Ukrenergo Volodymyr Kudritsky stated that artificial price caps and manual regulation prevent Ukraine from fully importing electricity from Europe during hours of shortage, undermining investor confidence."
date: 2026-09-06T15:08:01.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/kudritsky-artificial-price-caps-hinder-ukraine-from-importing-electricity-from-europe
tags: [ukraine-energy, electricity-import, price-caps, ukrenergo, eu-market-integration]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Kudritsky: Artificial price caps hinder Ukraine from fully importing electricity from Europe

![Kudrytskyi explains in an interview how artificial price caps hinder Ukraine's electricity imports from Europe](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/06/kudritskiy-iskusstvennye-tsenovye-ogranicheniya-mesyat-importu-elektroenergii-iz-evropy/kudritskiy-iskusstvennye-tsenovye-ogranicheniya-mesyat-importu-elektroenergii-iz-evropy-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- Kudritsky claims that every winter Ukraine underutilizes electricity imports from Europe due to artificial price restrictions.
- Manual administrative regulation of prices and rules undermines investor confidence and slows down the construction of new generation capacity.
- In his assessment, the transition to the rules of the European energy market will increase imports, improve the investment climate, and reduce outages.
- The sources differ in emphasis: the problem is described both as a winter one and as a spring one, and as a consequence of the existence of price caps or of their specific level.

Former head of Ukrenergo, Volodymyr Kudritsky, stated that throughout each winter Ukraine fails to make full use of its opportunities to import electricity from Europe due to "certain artificial restrictions in the electricity market." He said this in a comment cited by RBC-Ukraine. According to him, the issue is not a technical inability to receive energy, but rather market rules that effectively limit the flow of imports during hours of shortage.

### Manual regulation as a barrier to the market

Kudritsky points out that the problem is linked to manual regulation of prices and rules in the market. When price caps and other conditions can be changed administratively, this, in his assessment, undermines investor confidence and slows down the construction of new generation capacity. He emphasized that "Ukrainian officials of this post-Soviet type" should not have the ability to manually control the price in the market and the rules of its operation in a way that "is not transparent and may be discriminatory toward some market players and preferential toward others."

### Link to investments and new generation

According to the former head of Ukrenergo, administrative intervention in price formation directly affects the investment climate: uncertainty in the rules makes the construction of new power plants less attractive. This, in turn, limits the long-term expansion of generating capacity and makes the system more vulnerable during periods of peak demand.

### Outlook for integration with the European market

Kudritsky believes that the transition to the rules of the European energy market will simultaneously increase imports, improve investment conditions for new power plants, and, in the long run, reduce the number of outages. For the end consumer, in his words, full integration with the European market could mean "fewer outages and a lower price tag."

### Contradictory data

In the available materials, the problem is described with slight discrepancies in emphasis and time frames. On the one hand, Kudritsky's main statements refer to the underutilization of winter imports due to price barriers (price caps) and manual regulation. On the other hand, in earlier comments by the same speaker, the lowering of price caps was cited as one of the causes of electricity outages specifically in spring, not only in winter. In addition, the wording of the sources underscores the recurring nature of the problem ("again," "once more"), indicating a systemic rather than a one-off effect. Thus, the parties agree that price restrictions hold back imports, but they differ on whether the key factor is the very existence of price caps or their specific level in different seasons.

Earlier, candidate of political sciences Vitaliy Stashuk also noted that imports do not always reach Ukraine in the required volumes due to price barriers (price caps), and that without their review it will be harder for Ukraine to import electricity in winter. The totality of these statements indicates that the issue of price restrictions and the transparency of market rules remains one of the key factors in ensuring the country's energy security in the upcoming heating seasons.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [Ukraine underutilizes electricity imports from the EU: Kudritsky names the reason](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/ukrayina-nedovikoristovue-import-elektroenergiyi-1788707064.html) - Прямая цитата Кудрицкого о недоиспользовании импорта из‑за искусственных ограничений; основа статьи.
- [Artificial price caps again hold back electricity imports during hours of shortage ...](https://www.obozrevatel.com/ekonomika-glavnaya/iskusstvennyie-tsenovyie-ogranicheniya-vnov-sderzhivayut-import-elektroenergii-v-chasyi-defitsita-kudritskij.htm) - Подтверждает повторяющийся характер проблемы («вновь») и связь с часами дефицита.
- [Artificial price caps once again hold back electricity imports during shortage hours ...](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/shtuchni-tsinovi-obmezhennya-znovu-strimuyut-1783249763.html) - Прямая цитата Кудрицкого о недоиспользовании импорта из‑за искусственных ограничений; основа статьи.
- [Lowering of price caps became one of the causes of electricity outages in spring, – Kudritsky](https://www.obozrevatel.com/ekonomika-glavnaya/snizhenie-prajs-kepov-stalo-odnoj-iz-prichin-otklyuchenij-elektroenergii-vesnoj-kudritskij.htm) - Подтверждает повторяющийся характер проблемы («вновь») и связь с часами дефицита.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: Why, according to Kudritsky, does Ukraine underutilize electricity imports from Europe?
**A:** He links this to artificial price restrictions and manual administrative regulation of market rules, which hold back the flow of imports during hours of shortage.

### Q: How does manual price regulation affect Ukraine's energy sector?
**A:** In Kudritsky's assessment, administrative changes to price caps and rules undermine investor confidence and slow down the construction of new generation capacity.

### Q: What will the transition to the rules of the European energy market bring?
**A:** The former head of Ukrenergo believes that this will allow increasing imports, improving investment conditions for new power plants, and, in the long run, reducing outages, while for the consumer it will mean a lower price.

### Q: Are there discrepancies in how the problem is described in the sources?
**A:** Yes: the main statements emphasize the under-import in winter, whereas in an earlier comment by Kudritsky the lowering of price caps was cited as a cause of outages in spring; it is also debated whether what holds back imports is the existence of price caps or their specific level.