Ministry of Economy: Ukraineʼs direct losses due to the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP reached $2 billion

Author:
Anna Kholodnova
Date:

The direct losses of Ukraine due to the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP amount to more than $2 billion, the Ministry of Economy and the KSE Institute calculated.

According to their data, the losses due to the tragedy at the Kakhovka HPP are as follows:

  • Housing: $950 million in losses. Preliminarily, about 20 000-30 000 houses in the Kherson region and more than 500 private houses in the Mykolaiv region were inundated.
  • Energy: $624 million in losses. The Kakhovka hydroelectric power station is destroyed and cannot be restored, the total losses of the sector reach $586 million. About $1 billion is needed to build a new hydroelectric power station.
  • Transportation infrastructure: $311 million in damages. More than 290 km of roads were affected by the flood.
  • Industry: $105 million in losses. 28 large industrial facilities located on the right and left banks of the Dnipro River were flooded.
  • Agriculture: $25 million in losses.
  • Environment and ecology: $1.5 billion in damages. During the explosion of the dam, 150 tons of oil leaked out. The salinity level of the Black Sea near Odesa is almost three times lower than normal.

On the night of June 6, Russia blew up the Kakhovka HPP in the Kherson region. Due to the breach of the dam, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is under threat, people in the south of Kherson region and Crimea may be left without drinking water, and the destruction of part of the population centers and the biosphere is also possible. According to Ukrainian intelligence, the Russians deliberately blew up the dam, but they did it chaotically, which caused their military equipment to sink. According to preliminary information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 21 people died.