The construction of a new hydroelectric power plant in Ukraine will cost $1 billion

The approximate cost of building a new hydroelectric plant to replace the Kakhovska hydroelectric station blown up by the Russian occupiers is about $1bn.

This was announced by First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yuliya Svyrydenko.

We are talking not only about installing new hydroelectric units, but also about restoring the integrity of the huge dam," Svyrydenko said.

According to her, it will take at least up to 5 years just to restore the dam, and the cumulative effect of the humanitarian and environmental consequences of the undermining will only increase.

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy, in turn, predicts flooding of about 10,000 km of agricultural land on the right bank. As well as several times more on the left bank of the region. Thirty-one field irrigation systems in Dnipropetrovsk (30%), Kherson (94%) and Zaporizhzhya (30%) oblasts have been left without water supply. There are fears that fields in southern Ukraine may turn into a desert as early as next year.

At the same time, Ukrhydroenergo, the company that manages the main Ukrainian hydroelectric power plants, says that it is working with the design institute Ukrhydroproject on a project to dam the Kakhovka reservoir "to restore the water level to the design level for undermining. A list of priority tasks and works is being prepared".