Thursday, 5th October 2017, 18.00 Uhr - 20.00 Uhr
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Schumannstraße 8, 10117 Berlin

 

Welcome: Ellen Ueberschär, President, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

Andriy Kobolyev, CEO Naftogaz Ukraine 
Olena Pavlenko, DiXi Group, Ukraine
Rebecca Harms, MEP, EFA/Greens, Germany
Georg Zachmann, Senior Energy Expert, German Advisory Group to Ukraine, Germany
Facilitator: Ursula Weidenfeld, Journalist, Germany

 

The gas sector is perhaps one of the most challenging current reform projects in Ukraine. Several important changes were implemented in the last years and improvements are already visible. Previously the state monopolist Naftogaz needed subsidies of up to 5% of national GDP. Natural gas deliveries had always been an instrument of political blackmailing by former monopolist supplier Russia. Although this now belongs to the past, a difficult reform path still lies ahead. Working gas markets require an unbundling of Naftogaz' monopoly - a particular challenging task in a country with a legacy of political interference against the backdrop of powerful vested interests.

At the same time, reforms are supposed to happen in the context of a lasting geopolitical confrontation in which other governments misuse their big state gas enterprises as a tool for political power. Ukraine's future role for gas transit to Europe and its revenues depend to a big extent on the competing infrastructure project of North Stream II and significant implications of it for Ukraine's attractiveness for investments into the often outdated domestic gas infrastructure can be assumed. On top of this, in the context of the overall modernisation of Ukraine towards a low carbon economy in line with the Paris climate accords, the gas sector reforms need to be shaped to effectively and sustainably reduce emissions from the energy sector in general, taking into account the growth of renewables.

These are the main questions to be discussed: What are the main drivers and impediments for a quick implementation of further reforms and who are the main actors? How does the framework of Ukraine's membership in the European Energy Community help to design consistent reforms? Do the recent rulings of the Stockholm arbitration court on the Gazprom vs. Naftogaz case ease the further reform process? Will North Stream II lead Ukraine's gas sector into a lasting economic disaster? Which role should natural gas play in the future energy mix of Ucraine in the context of a transition to a low carbon economy?

 

Language: Englisch

 

Information: 
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Petra Zimmermann, Project Coordinator, E-Mail zimmermann@boell.de, T +49(0)285 34 -365