OREANDA-NEWS. On 18-19 November, Vitaly Butenko, DTEK Energy Commercial Director, and John Woodham, Deputy Director for Sales, attended a number of events in Brussels held by the European Association for Coal and Lignite (EURACOAL) and the European Association for Electricity Producers (EURELECTRIC).

Mr Butenko was the key speaker during the roundtable discussion “International Coal Dialogue: Quo vadis Ukraine?”. He presented a report on the current situation in the coal and energy industry, where he highlighted key issues in the sector and proposed a number of possible solutions to resolve them.

“The stocks of A/T grade coal, which is used to generate electricity in Eastern and Central Ukraine, dropped by 90% year-over-year and at the moment amount to less than 200 thousand tonnes,” said Mr Butenko. “The available capacity of TPPs fired by this coal grade has decreased by 64%. The situation is rather challenging and to resolve it we need to focus on three main tasks. First, we need to ensure uninterrupted coal supplies, including imports. Then it is necessary to maximize the efficiency of TPPs running on G grade coal: there are sufficient supplies of G grade and its production is sustainable. Ultimately, the state-run Energorynok should settle its debt with generating companies, which, according to our estimates, will reach 4.6 billion hryvnias by the year end.”

During his speech at the EURELECTRIC conference, John Woodham commented on the pressing issues of Ukrainian energy sector reforms. According to him, the implementation of the Third Energy Package will help create a free competitive electricity market in Ukraine. Transition to bilateral contracts between electricity producers and consumers will enhance efficiency and attract investments to the sector due to transparent market rules. Eventually, it will help Ukraine become integrated into the European energy market.

“The reform started with the adoption of the Law on the Operating Principles of the Electricity Market in Ukraine,” explained Mr Woodham. “In 2017, the electricity market should become fully operational. Instead, some key reforms are being stalled. In this regard we count on the support of the European Community both in terms of policies and expertise to find the most efficient ways to implement the provisions of the Third Energy Package. It is not only about the energy independence of Ukraine; it is part of the energy security of Europe.”