The Energy Community Secretariat has created the “Ukraine Energy Market Observatory” for monitoring the energy market and corporate governance in Ukraine, the Secretariat announced on 27 January.
The Observatory will “closely follow and review” all developments related to the energy market and corporate governance in Ukraine, according to a press release from the Energy Community Secretariat.
“In full respect of confidentiality requirements, the assessments will be published and made available to domestic and international stakeholders involved,” the Secretariat noted. “This aims to support the further integration of the Ukrainian energy sector with Europe and help build trust in predictable and transparent governance in line with European practices.”
This new monitoring tool has been introduced to “streamline and consolidate” the Secretariat’s monitoring functions under the Energy Community Treaty, according to the press release.
Ukraine is preparing for the next heating season
Separately, the CEO of the state-owned Naftogaz, Oleksiy Chernyshov, confirmed that Ukraine has sufficient volumes of gas for the rest of the current heating season, during a Parliamentary Committee on Energy and Housing and Communal Service meeting on 31 January 2022.
“Last year, by the beginning of the winter season, we managed to accumulate 14.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas in our underground storage facilities. Within certain scenarios, this was enough. Unfortunately, enemy shelling damaged the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, creating the need for an additional volume of gas for electricity generation,” said Mr Chernyshov.
The Naftogaz CEO confirmed that thus far, an additional 1.1 bcm of imported gas has been sourced with further volumes expected. This will be enough to complete the autumn-winter period under the current weather conditions, according to a press release from Naftogaz.
Despite the ongoing armed conflict taking place in the country, the Naftogaz Group is also introducing a new approach to preparation for the heating season with a two-year planning cycle. As stated in the press release, Naftogaz’s team is already working on a strategic plan for the next 2023-2024 heating season.
“We are changing the logic of preparation for the heating season. Now we are preparing for two heating seasons at the same time and attempting to take all challenges and risks into account. The importance of the matter lies not only whether we will have enough gas for this winter, but also what gas balance we will end the season with and where we will get fuel before the next season,” added Mr Chernyshov.
One of Naftogaz Group’s priorities is to increase its gas production, as this will directly affect Ukraine’s energy sustainability in the years to come, the press release highlighted. The state-owned energy company is the predominant supplier of natural gas in Ukraine.
