OREANDA-NEWS. September 19, 2012. Power industry may become the key driver for Ukraine’s European integration. DTEK’s CEO Maxim Timchenko voiced this opinion in his speech at the energy panel of the 9th Yalta Annual Meeting YES. He said that power trading that is inevitably associated with the technical integration of Ukraine’s power system into the European power grid (ENTSO-E) and liberalization of the country’s energy market will become the important leverage for the rapprochement of Ukraine and Europe.

 The 9th Yalta Annual Meeting entitled “Ukraine and the World: Addressing Tomorrow’s Challenges Together” took place from 13 September to 16 September 2012 at the Livadia Palace in Yalta. The 66th US Secretary of State (2005-2009) and the US President’s National Security Advisor (2001-2005) Dr. Condoleezza Rice, the Vice Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Arkadiy Dvorkovich, the Minister of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine Yuriy Boyko, and the Regional Managing Director of Shell in Russia, Ukraine and the Caspian region Matthias Bichsel took part in the meetings of the energy panel along with Maxim Timchenko. The meeting participants discussed Ukraine’s role in European energy security, the ways for further development of the power industry in Ukraine, Russia and the EU and the possibilities for diversification of power and energy carrier supplies.

 “Ukraine joined the European Energy Community and undertook the obligations to comply with the EU’s requirements in power industry. The long-awaited power industry reform must start immediately and the bill on power market liberalization was already introduced to the Parliament as the first step of the process. The bill secured the support of European power organizations and international financial and political institutes, as it minimizes the state’s interference in the market relations and stimulates competition and investment in the construction of new capacities”, said Maxim Timchenko.

 DTEK’s CEO put a special emphasis on the fact that European integration means more for DTEK than a chance for the Company to join the European market, but rather acceptance of the European norms and principles of business. In particular, it means that the Company gives a special level of attention to the issues of business responsibility, contribution to the development of the cities and regions where the Company operates and to the environment protection: “For us, further European integration means obligatory investments in the fundamental reformation of the labour protection system and social infrastructure development in the areas where our employees live and work. It means bringing their life standards and working conditions closer to the European norms”, said Maxim Timchenko.

 DTEK’s representative also stressed that upgrading the power plants and energy infrastructure in Ukraine actually means full equipment retrofitting. This upgrade requires multi-billion investments and many years of work, but it is indispensable both for synchronizing Ukraine’s power system with ENTSO-E and for ensuring reliable power supply for the Ukrainian consumers. DTEK is going to invest UAH 23.3 billion in upgrading the TPPs.