Kiev, Energy Community to Meet Late Sept

Janez Kopac, who heads the Energy Community secretariat, met Ukraine's prime minister Volodymyr Groysman and vice prime minister Volodymyr Kistion September 13 to discuss the state of play of the country’s gas sector reforms.

Their meeting focused on the public service obligation (PSO) law's impact on gas market participants and the unbundling of state incumbent Naftogaz. Kopac presented the basic solutions of the new draft PSO law, co-designed by the Energy Community (EC) secretariat and the World Bank, which the EC presented to the Ukrainian authorities for the first time late last month.

The EC argues that the law as it now stands is "not compliant with its the Energy Community acquis communautaire on natural gas", as it establishes a monopoly on the retail market and endangers the entire gas sector reform process, a view wholeheartedly endorsed by state Naftogaz.

The EC and the government in Kiev agreed to develop additional proposals and meet again in two weeks’ time.

Emerging obstacles to the unbundling of Naftogaz were also discussed and Kopac presented the concerns he had heard from international financial institutions and donors at a meeting he held on September 12.

The EC regroups all EU countries, with non-members in the Balkans and southeast Europe, the largest of which is Ukraine.

Mark Smedley