Ukraine has fulfilled only one commitment to the Energy Community

Since joining the Energy Community two years ago, Ukraine has managed to fully implement only one of the many obligations, namely to provide a report on supply security. This according to the speakers at a press conference the DiXi Group held in Kyiv on February 4. The relevant study was conducted with support from the International Renaissance Foundation’s European Program.

“Ukraine is dragging its feet on implementing reforms and this slowness is alienating it from the Energy Community,” said Olena Pavlenko, President of DiXi Group. “One gets the impression that the government is playing hot potato – tossing responsibility for meeting the commitments to one another, waiting for someone else to do it. Meanwhile, the Community is mandating new changes.”   

“By joining the Energy Community, energy became the first pilot sector where Ukraine assumed legal obligations before the EU to adapt its legislation,” stressed Dmytro Shulga, Director of IRF’s European Program. “Therefore, Ukraine’s implementation of its commitments to the Energy Community is important not only for the energy sector, but for broader prospects of Ukraine’s European integration in general.”  

In the opinion of DiXi Group Program Manager Roman Nitsovych, the Ukrainian government still doesn’t understand the essence of the country’s membership in the Energy Community. “The Ukrainian government is picking which commitments to fulfill, when and to what extent. But the Energy Community isn’t a restaurant menu – there are standard mandatory requirements. Either you play by European rules of the game, or you don’t play at all,” he said.       

According to the experts, Ukraine is lagging in all key areas – the gas and electricity market, renewable energy sources, energy efficiency and environmental protection. Some European directives and regulations have been partially considered and others are still awaiting a decision.   

Ukraine acceded to the Energy Community on February 1, 2011 following the ratification by the Verkhovna Rada of the Treaty establishing the Energy Community.

Contacts:
DiXi Group
Iryna Petrenko
petrenko@dixigroup.org

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The essential role of the European Program lies in promotion of Ukraine’s European integration, combining external pressure of the EU with the domestic one of the Ukrainian civil society, and thus contributing to promotion of open society values in Ukraine.