A joint European Federation of Energy Traders (EFET)
and Energy Community workshop on the restructuring of the Ukrainian gas
market took place on 15 July in Kyiv. Industry experts, policy makers
and academia representatives gathered to discuss how to achieve
efficient market design and enable competition and fair pricing in
Ukraine.
The event marks the transition to the new legal framework for
liberalisation and shows political will to this end. Ukraine is
currently implementing a new gas market law, compliant with the EU’s
Third Energy Package. With its accession to the Energy Community,
Ukraine adopted a clear reform trajectory introducing an EU model of
organisation to the energy market.
“The Energy Community wants to see Ukraine – just as well as the
other Contracting Parties – truly integrated into a European gas market,” said Janez Kopač, Director of Energy Community Secretariat, “we
expect to see next year an unbundled TSO – Ukrtransgaz – which will
implement transparent and non-discriminatory, market-friendly rules on
its pipelines. We want to see new sources of gas reaching Ukraine’s
market, at affordable prices, abolishment of regulating prices of
domestically produced gas and a boosting of gas production, even,
perhaps, for export.“
“It is an important opportunity for progress”, highlighted Doug
Wood, Chairman of the EFET Gas Committee and a member of the EFET Board
in his address to the Ukrainian industry stakeholders, “a number of
pre-conditions are yet to be put in place and implementation details
agreed on how the European acquis is being carried out to make a success
of a proper market functioning in Ukraine. Creating equal conditions
for market players and non-discriminatory access to storage and
transportation of natural gas supported through a powerful component of
standardization are very significant parts of the liberalisation
process. Such measures help to enable more liquidity in wholesale gas
trading to develop.”
Market reforms are already underway and will bring significant changes
to the Ukrainian gas market, opening immense opportunities for business
and customers both in Ukraine and its neighbouring countries.