The government confirms its intention to implement the European Green Deal
The Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine declared their readiness to continue work on the implementation of European Green Deal approaches.
During the 8th meeting of Cluster 3 (Energy, including nuclear issues, environment, including climate change and civil protection, transport) of the Subcommittee on Economy and Other Sectoral Cooperation of the Ukraine-EU Association Committee held on 26 January 2023, representatives of the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Environment declared their readiness to continue work on the implementation of European Green Deal (EGD) approaches and relevant EU legislation in Ukraine, and also discussed a number of other cooperation topics.
Deputy Minister of Energy Yaroslav Demchenkov, thanking for the support for Ukraine and assistance in the recovery of the energy sector, stated that in spite of the war, the implementation of the EGD goals remains on the agenda for the country and will play an important role during the implementation of the recovery plan.
In addition, the deputy minister said that Ukraine intends to sign a memorandum with the EU on a strategic partnership in the field of renewable gases, and the Ministry of Energy is simulating the country’s future sustainable energy sector which will form the basis of the Energy Strategy until 2050.
Demchenkov also spoke about Ukraine’s readiness to participate in existing EU instruments that will promote the development of power and gas networks in Europe, the opportunity to provide the EU with gas storage capacity and to join the policy of joint procurement of hydrocarbons. As a separate point, the parties discussed the importance of Naftogaz corporate governance reform and the need for Ukrenergo to achieve full membership in ENTSO-E and Market Operator JSC in the Committee of European Market Operators.
In turn, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Yevhenii Fedorenko paid attention to Ukraine’s implementation of European legislation in the framework of EGD and the fulfillment of obligations under the Paris Agreement as well as to the green reconstruction of Ukraine. EU representatives expressed their readiness to support Ukraine in the implementation of the new acquis in the field of environment and climate and in post-war green recovery. For its part, the Ukrainian side reported that despite the war, Ukraine continues to fulfill its international obligations and strives for the fastest possible integration into the EU.
Representatives of other central governmental authorities attended the meeting, in particular, Ihor Hopchak, Deputy Head of State Water Resources Agency of Ukraine, reported that the priority for the Agency was the implementation of the Water Framework Directive and the Floods Directive. According to him, nine drafts of river basin management plans prepared in 2023 will be supplemented with a program of measures to achieve “good” water condition and made public.
