Expert: Ukraine behind deadlines of meeting commitments to Energy Community

Ukraine has not carried out in time any of its obligations to the Energy Community, the founder of the Dixi Group analytical center, Olena Pavlenko, said during a presentation of a survey entitled "One Year in the Energy Community: Are We Doing Well?" in Kyiv on Tuesday. "None of the obligations was carried out in full. It seems like both sides had different expectations of Ukraine's membership of the Energy Community. Ukraine was seeking funds and tools to block the construction of the South Stream pipeline, while the European side, first of all, expected reform in Ukraine's energy sector," she said.

In turn, Dixi Group expert Iryna Petrenko stressed that Ukraine had passed amendments to its legislation to meet the requirements of the Energy Community but never approved the necessary subordinate regulatory acts for its implementation. For instance, the procedure for obtaining access to the Ukrainian gas transport system has not been approved yet.

"If the situation develops in the same way, only the Ukrainian side will lose… We should agree on our positions and play a fair game," Dixi Group Program Manager Roman Nytsovych said.

Head of energy programs at the Nomos Centre Mykhailo Honchar noted that the Energy Community should treat with understanding the way in which Ukraine is implementing the European energy legislation.

"The implementation process is much simpler in South Europe, as they have a single integration vector. While in Ukraine a third side – Russia's Gazprom – counteracts this process. The European community should understand this and take this into account," Honchar said.

As reported, Ukraine joined the Energy Community a year ago and was obliged to implement a number of European energy instructions.