A plan is in the works to unbundle Ukraine’s oil and gas company Naftogaz by 2015, but its implementation also hinges on Gazprom and several member states, a senior official at the Ukrainian state company said.
The plan was presented a few weeks ago and it is being developed in a working group with representatives of the European Commission, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry, Naftogaz, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the World Bank,…
Challenges of implementation
It may be difficult to fully implement the third energy package “in practice” by 2015, but Ukraine can still make “irreversible reforms” during the following seven months,” Olena Pavlenko, the president of the Ukrainian think tank Dixi Group, told Europolitics.“Except political barriers, I don’t see any significant obstacles,” she said. “There are still a lot of interest groups in Ukraine and in the parliament, which could try to brake the process of the third energy package implementation, as it will destroy a number of ways for corruption.”But there is a favourable political situation today, “and we should use this as soon as possible”. If the new Ukrainian president makes the third energy package a priority, implementing new legislation may be possible, she added.