WASHINGTON — The largest private energy company in Ukraine is moving forward with more shipments of liquid natural gas (LNG) purchases from the US — and seeking a commercial agreement with a Virginia-based company to try to replace Russia’s supply chain to the European continent.
“Russian gas cannot be cheap — and eventually it will be very high-priced in,” DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko told The Post. “The most obvious solution and practical solution is to replace Russian gas by supply from the United States, and we always wanted to be part of this, part of this global market.”
That could be music to the ears of President Trump, who has listed ending the war in Ukraine and rejuvenating America’s oil industry among his top priorities.
It was his “Drill, baby, drill” mentality that helped the US become a net exporter of oil for the first time in 60 years during his first administration.
“LNG is growing very fast as a commodity and our trading company called D.Trading … spent several months to structure the first supply of LNG from Venture Global,” Timchenko said. “Now we are (in the) next phase of discussion with Venture Global, about five to six cargoes to be supplied during this year.”
That first shipment came from Louisiana in December 2024 and worked its way “through a Greek terminal,” according to the DTEK CEO, before his company helped with “transferring it into the European gas network.”
Timchenko emphasized that the business environment, even for Kyiv-based executives like himself, has shifted since a limited cease-fire with Russia halted most drone attacks on many of DTEK’s facilities once pulverized by Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
“My first words in all meetings with the officials in Washington is the words of appreciation to your president and to your government that for 2.5 weeks we’ve been not attacked,” he said of the agreement the US helped facilitate.
“It’s the first time for three years that we can sleep.”
Up to 90% of DTEK’s power generation capacity was destroyed by Russian forces last July, he noted, creating a “cycle of destruction, restoration, destruction.” But since the partial cease-fire, just one solar farm has been hit.
Around 40% of Kyiv’s electricity is provided by DTEK.
Timchenko also lauded the Trump administration for its business-first approach in international relations, noting the change in conversations he’s had in Washington and New York during meetings with potential US investors to forge more strategic partnerships during Russia’s more than three-year war on Ukraine.
Before Trump assumed office, DTEK’s leader said that discussions about the war always hinged on military assistance — but since then, there’s been a shift toward “talking purely about commercial goods,” Timchenko pointed out.
“While all these discussions are happening, we come meet these companies and bring them to you,” he said. “That’s basically what we’re doing. So we try to be more practical and we’re not waiting either.”
His work has also brought him to other European nations such as Norway, where DTEK is seeking to modernize its energy grid via a 10-year project worth up to 7 billion euros ($7.83 billion).
“We have battery storage projects in Poland and battery storage is extremely important for resistance of our power grid and especially when Ukraine connected power grid to European,” he said.
At the same time, Trump is still seeking a rare-earth minerals agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — which Washington views as a kind of security guarantee that could help discourage Russia from continuing its war on Ukraine, according to proponents of the president’s approach.
“We want to build commercial relations, but at the same time think about energy security,” Timchenko said, noting that could ideally result in a gas pipeline connection Ukraine with Poland, Hungary or Lithuania.
Currently, Ukraine has the second-largest reserve of natural gas on the continent and DTEK has the largest gas storage system in the country. It is also home to the largest nuclear energy plant in Europe.
“The role of Ukraine in energy security of [the] European continent was underestimated in the past and now our message here is that Ukraine has so huge potential,” he added, citing 1.2 billion euros in investments from his company even during the war.
Asked about the fallout from Zelensky’s first attempt at the minerals deal, however, Timchenko added: “I support the position of President Trump that through investments in Ukraine to bringing American companies and investing billions. We create these security guarantees for the whole country.”
“It cannot replace defense,” he said, noting that Ukraine still needs traditional security guarantees for lasting peace, “but it adds a lot.”