The Government of Ukraine and the Secretariat sign Memorandum on future cooperation   

At a visit to Ukraine on 14-16 March, Director Lorkowski and Deputy Director Buschle together with key stakeholders took stock of the state of energy sector reforms amidst the full-scale war by Russia. Director Lorkowski discussed with Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal steps to further integrate the energy markets of Ukraine and the EU under the Energy Community Treaty as well as the state of play of unbundling of the transmission system operators. The Prime Minister,  the Director and Energy Minister German Galushchenko also discussed the international support for the repairment of the damages affecting to the energy sector of Ukraine, coordinated by the Secretariat under the Ukraine Energy Support Fund and the Ukraine Support Task Force. Director Lorkowski presented the state of implementation of the Energy Community Treaty to the members of Verkhovna Rada. The Director emphasized that the energy market model successfully implemented by Ukraine in cooperation with the Secretariat has proved its resilience under the extraordinary circumstances of Russia’s war. Competitive energy markets aligned with the EU governance model are key for post-war rebuilding process.

In the presence of the Prime Minister, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Ukraine and the Energy Community Secretariat on increased cooperation in rebuilding Ukraine's energy sector was signed between Director Lorkowski and Minister Galushchenko. The cooperation extends to the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) as the key planning instrument for both reconstruction and the development of a green post-war economy, the renaissance of the renewable energy sector in Ukraine, development of infrastructure under the TEN-E process and the facilitation of legal claims against the Russian Federation for energy sector damages.

Aiming to further increase support for Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine and Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov and Director Artur Lorkowski also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on coordination of activities in the area of humanitarian aid for the district heating, water supply and buildings sector of Ukraine.  During the mission, a project agreement funded under the Ukraine Energy Support Fund by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany for the rehabilitation of the gas compressor station Bar was signed by GTSOU, the gas transmission system operator of Ukraine.

During the mission to Ukraine Director Lorkowski and Deputy Director Buschle, with the view of Ukraine’s status of a candidate country to EU, discussed with the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna the self-screening of Ukrainian legislation for compliance with European standards and offered support of the Secretariat in this endeavour. It is of a key importance to make an accurate assessment of Ukraine’s efforts and understand where the improvements are needed. Director Lorkowski presented the Ukraine Energy Market Observatory initiated by the Energy Community Secretariat. The Observatory will closely follow and review all developments related to the energy market and corporate governance in Ukraine. In full respect of confidentiality requirements, the assessments will be published and made available to domestic and international stakeholders involved.

Meetings with the CEO of Naftogas Oleksii Chernyshov and the CEO of Ukrenergo Volodymyr Kudrytskyi focused on the current challenges faced by the gas and electricity sector, respectively.

On the occasion of the visit to Kyiv, the Secretariat held an event launching the cooperation on the NECP with the participation of Michał Kurtyka, former Minister of Climate and Environment of Poland and CoP24 President as well as representatives of the Rada, the European Commission and civil society. The Secretariat also invited the three associations for renewable energy in Ukraine, the Ministry of Energy, the Verkhovna Rada, the energy regulatory authority NEURC, the Guaranteed Buyer and Ukrenergo to a roundtable discussing the state of play of renewable energy investments in Ukraine following the settlement of the dispute mediated by the Secretariat in 2020.