REUTERS
The minister of the systemically important sector of Ukraine's economy has not been appointed yet.
The European Business Association (EBA) says Ukrainian businesses ask the government to appoint the minister of energy and environmental protection as soon as possible since the absence of a key minister further deteriorates the crisis in the energy sector.
"The members of the EBA Energy Committee note that the absence of the head of the energy sector has caused the deterioration of the crisis for the energy industry and therefore appeal to Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, Dmytro Razumkov, the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine [Ukraine's parliament] and Denys Shmyhal, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, to appoint the Minister of Energy and the Environmental Protection as soon as possible in order to pull the sector out of a dangerous situation," the EBA said in a statement on April 4.
Read alsoEBA: Ukrainian businesses record up to 50% of revenue losses amid coronavirus quarantine
The Association says the minister has not yet been appointed in the systemically important sector of Ukraine's economy, who will be responsible for all decisions taken to ensure the uninterrupted operation of the fuel and energy sector in case of an emergency, find solutions to the long-existent problems of the industry and propose an action plan for further measures to save the energy sector from the decline.
In particular, in the opinion of the businesses, countermeasures should be taken to ensure the non-application of sanctions to energy suppliers (electricity and gas) and gas distribution network operators for failure to fulfill their obligations, including those to their counterparties, amid the quarantine. Earlier the government limited the application of penalties and banned the suspension/termination of providing housing and utility services to Ukrainian citizens in the event of their failure to pay in full or non-payment.
However, the business community noted a number of issues requiring constructive intervention, such as: incomplete reform of the electricity market; imports of electricity from non-ENTSO-E countries; forced shutdown of TPP/CHPP power units, which threatens their stable operation and significantly reduces coal consumption, as it has already led to the stoppage of some coal mines.
Energy companies also note that economic volatility and record low prices of natural gas force gas companies to cut drilling programs and terminate investment programs.
According to EBA participants, the industry's problem is the regulation crisis regarding the revision of the feed-in tariff and the failure to ensure its payment on time. They also note the lack of incentives for the development of non-traditional hydrocarbon deposits and the absence of approval by Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers of annual support quotas for green auctions. Moreover, the Association mentioned risks of systemic generation constraints in the renewable energy sector without regulatory compensation mechanisms for such technical constraints and others.
As UNIAN reported, Ukrainian businesses earlier asked the government to ensure the uninterrupted operation of enterprises of the fuel and energy complex and their contractors amid an emergency.
The Cabinet of Ministers on March 25 decided to extend quarantine set in Ukraine over the spread of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus until April 24 and introduced a state of emergency across the country for a month.
First Deputy Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection Vitaliy Shubin is now acting head of the ministry.