Ukraine Begins Drawing Up Long-Term Energy Strategy

President Leonid Kuchma has signed an instruction to draw up this country’s energy strategy until the year 2030 and beyond. The Institute of General Energy Studies of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences has been appointed its main developer, Interfax-Ukraine reports. The strategy is to include among other things the programs of further development of the electrical, coal, nuclear, and fossil fuels industries.

Strategy developers will perhaps make use of the provisions of The Concept of Ukraine’s Energy Policy To 2020 recently unveiled during a round table at the Razumkov Ukrainian Center for Economic and Political Research. Center Director Anatoly Hrytsenko announced that this document was initiated by a parliamentary group set up by the proper Verkhovna Rada committee. Commenting on this, Assistant Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleh Hnatsov said the government had in fact abandoned strategic planning in the energy sector, leaving all initiatives in this matter to lawmakers. In his opinion, the latest drop in coal and electrical power production was caused by obvious government miscalculations. The main drawback, Mr. Hnatsov thinks, is the lack of balance between the production and the consumption of electric and thermal power: “The balance sheets prepared by the former vice premier for fuel and energy did not take into account the consumption market.”

According to Oleksandr Hudyma, head of the relevant parliamentary committee, Ukraine’s energy vector should essentially consist in “the integration of Ukrainian energy facilities into the European Union’s energy sector, with strategic partnership with Russia remainingintact.” Independent expert Tamara Panfilova, while not rejecting cooperation with Russia in energy, believes Ukraine should learn to work with multinational companies.

The “round table” also heard the written query of British deputy ambassador in Ukraine, Donald McClaren: “It was agreed during the Ukrainian-Russian talks in December that Ukraine would not export its natural gas if Russia resumes reliable energy supplies. Simultaneously, importance is attached to attracting foreign investors. Hence a question arises: will the foreign companies helping Ukraine extract gas see restrictions being imposed on the export of this gas? Or have the foreign companies in fact fallen into a trap following the December accords?” Answering this question, Mr. Hrytsenko admitted there is a negative point in the December agreements with Moscow.

The discussion participants came to the conclusion that Ukraine will remain under energy pressure as long as it is in crisis and until it learns to pay energy bills.