REUTERS
The move is designed to prevent a sharp rise in power rates.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's envoy to the Cabinet of Ministers Andriy Gerus says the president has submitted a bill to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, to postpone the launch of a new electricity market from July 1, 2019 to July 1, 2020.
"Unfortunately, preparations for the new market have not been done properly over two years. Therefore, to prevent a sharp rise in tariffs and crises ina the electricity market, we have initiated the postponement of the launch of the new market model for one year. At the same time, we plan to develop and implement a monthly plan to prepare for the relevant changes," he wrote on Facebook on June 10.
Gerus added that Zelensky had also tabled a bill in parliament to resume the effect of feed-in tariffs for households' ground-mounted photovoltaic modules with a capacity of up to 30 kW.
Both presidential bills are to be considered as priority ones.
UNIAN memo. In April 2017, the Verkhovna Rada passed the Electricity Market Law of Ukraine. According to one of the authors of the document, the bill will lead to a competitive relationship in the segments of electricity generation and supplies for final consumers, which will force producers to increase their efficiency and remove inefficient power generation from the market. The introduction of the new electricity market will also allow people to choose electricity suppliers.