Chairman of EUEA Board, Mats Lundin, together with Kirill Ermichine, Member of EUEA Board and Head, Department for International Public Affairs DTEK, attended 3rd Vienna Forum on European Energy Law that took place on 13th March, 2015 in Vienna.
The whole third section of the Forum was dedicated to the matters of the former Energy Community heading country – Ukraine (that was leading the play in 2014).
The roundtable “Ukraine – an Energy Hotspot” collected a group of high level speakers including Mr. Andrey Belyy, University of Tartu, Walter Boltz, E-Control (Austria), Mr. Vsevolod Chentsov, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine) and Walter Tretton, EU Delegation (Ukraine) and was chaired by Ms. Irina Paliashvili from Ukrainian Legal Group that discussed truly Ukrainian problematics: intensive year for energy diplomacy, Ukraine and the internal energy market and mistakes of 2014.
Kirill Ermichine: “Measurable recent success in Ukraine’s implementation of its gas-related obligations before the Energy Community needs to be upended by concrete steps aimed at reforms in the electricity sector. Energy Community has a vital role in that, as well as the community of donors. Rules of the game need to be changed, allowing state agencies to listen and consult stakeholders – be it big companies like DTEK or expert business associations like EUEA”.
Mats Lundin also thinks that Energy Community will remain leading in the energy relations in Europe and sound example of conduct to Ukraine: “Ukraine may be a hotspot today but we must continue planning for the long term. The Energy Community will be one of the most important players for the redevelopment of the energy sector. EUEA will continue to be a platform for discussion to support investments in environmental technology, renewable energy and rehabilitation of existing facilities in order to meet the strict requirements in the treaties.”
The Vienna Forum is a joint initiative between the Energy Community Secretariat and the Florence School of Regulation, and is designed to highlight issues topical both for the EU and the Energy Community. This year’s Forum was divided into 3 sessions. In the first session, representatives from the Commission, the Energy Community and academia discuss the newly created EU’s Energy Union, its future role and its relevance to the Energy Community. The second session centers on decarbonisation and renewable policies. In particular, we discuss the optimal design of RES support schemes, feed-in tariff litigation as well as national experiences with markets for certificates. The third session addresses law enforcement in the Energy Community. The seminar closes with a roundtable discussion “Ukraine – an Energy Hotspot” bringing together energy regulators, investors, and experts in foreign affairs, diplomacy and the EU-Ukraine energy relations.
Agenda and presentations of the Forum are available HERE.
