REUTERS
The Steering Committee under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Kistion at its Tuesday meeting approved the country’s draft Energy Strategy until 2035, which provides for the maximum reduction in GDP’s energy intensity and the phase-out of deficient anthracite coal, committee member and Deputy Energy and Coal Industry Minister for European Integration Natalia Boiko told an UNIAN correspondent.
"At today's meeting of the Steering Committee chaired by Volodymyr Kistion, the draft Energy Strategy of Ukraine until 2035 was approved," she said.
According to her, the draft was developed transparently, to eliminate possible factors of lobbying, with the purpose to ensure the reduction of GDP’s energy intensity.
"The Strategy is the foundation for a future road map, which will be a complex and detailed document. But most importantly, the Strategy is a political signal to investors, our ‘green light’," she added.
Read alsoUkraine's project to make Chornobyl solar energy hub moves forwardBoyko listed the priorities of Ukraine's energy policy the Strategy envisages: the phase-out of anthracite coal, the continued use of nuclear energy, the integration of the Ukraine’s energy grid into the European electricity market, the transfer of transit gas reception stations from the eastern to the western border of Ukraine, the transition to a stimulating tariffs for energy companies, etc.
According to Boiko, Kistion instructed the energy ministry to make final amendments and agree on the text of the document with other interested parties among the executive authorities.
Read alsoCabinet signs month-long extension of emergency in energy sectorAs UNIAN reported, many experts in the energy industry have long urged the authorities to develop and approve the new Energy Strategy of Ukraine.
December 19, 2016, the draft Energy Strategy until 2035 was published on the website of the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry.
Late February 2017, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman demanded that the representatives of the working group developing the energy strategy complete the preparation of the document as early as Q2 2017.