The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy informed that the meeting was attended by members of the Cabinet of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Hroisman.
The Chair gave the floor to Mr Ihor Nasalyk, the Minister of Energy and Coal Industry, who spoke about the state of play in the fuel and energy complex.
Mr Nasalyk responded to all the questions recently asked by parliamentarians and the media about the work of the fuel and energy complex.
In particular, he denied some parliamentarians’ statements concerning alleged lack of the country’s energy balance. He noted that for the first time within the recent ten years, in 2016-2018 the Ministry had submitted the projected energy balance of the United Energy System of our country. This has enabled the generating companies and distribution networks not only to balance the repair area, to develop a program for the generation of electricity, but also to balance the structure of fuel.
The Ministry of Energy went even further, and together with the Danish-Ukrainian Energy Center developed a program on the energy balance of our state for the coming three years, which will be presented in 2019. This seems to be a real breakthrough in forecasting.
Mr I.Nasalyk also refuted the statement that the Government and the Ministry of Energy do not have an energy strategy for the development of the industry. It was said that the Government in August 2017 had adopted a new Energy Strategy of Ukraine through 2035.
In this context, the Energy Strategy of Ukraine defines the purpose and the methods of implementing Ukraine’s energy policy in the long term, as well as outlines the mechanisms for this implementation. In this way, unlike the current edition of the Energy Strategy of Ukraine through 2030, this Strategy is not a program of action or an organizational and administrative document regulating the development of the fuel and energy complex of Ukraine. This Strategy is a political document formalizing the country’s policy, defining the objectives of the public administration system, and setting the mechanism for focusing all public efforts on the achievement of the development goals set for the entire energy sector of Ukraine. The overall objective of the Strategy is to supply the needs of the society and the economy in fuel and energy sources in a technically safe, cost-effective and environmentally sound manner in order to ensure the country’s activity in both ordinary and extraordinary situations. The Strategy provides for: - determining the goals of the Ukrainian energy sector based on the priorities of ensuring energy security and implementing Ukraine’s aspirations for the European integration; - introducing modern methodological approaches adopted in the EU, including the development of strategic planning documents and practical measures aimed at state policy implementation in the energy sector; - developing a coherent system of state the control of the Strategy implementation, providing for the harmonization of the Strategy with the system of country development planning; forming a coordinated system of state management mechanisms aimed at achieving the Strategy goals and creating a system of the Strategy implementation monitoring; and ensuring compliance with the Strategy provisions by all economic agents within its scope. The Strategy sets the task trajectory of the energy sector development, ensuring the consistency of its priorities with the broader objectives of the society and envisaging the development of the country’s energy sector as part of the sustainable social and economic development of Ukraine.
The Minister also reported on the ongoing reform of the energy industry. He noted that without an appropriate legislative framework, the reform cannot take place even theoretically. He marked the joint work of the Parliamentary Committee on Fuel and Energy Complex, Nuclear Policy and Nuclear Safety and the Ministry, which made it possible to complete the formation of the appropriate legislative framework.
The Prime Minister
V.Hroisman and the members of the Cabinet answered the questions from the parliamentary
factions.
The government hour ended at this point.