Gas: Twinning project with the Ukrainian Authority will start soon
Milan, August 21, 2009
Italian versionThe twinning project between the Italian Regulatory Authority for Electricity and Gas and the Ukrainian energy Regulator (NERC) is now under way; the aim is to contribute to a better integration of the Ukrainian energy market with the EU market, firstly through the development of the NERC’s regulatory capacity in the gas sector and also through an upgrade and efficient use of the Ukrainian transport and storage infrastructures. These are the measures stated in resolution GOP 36/09, which can be consulted on the energy Regulatory Authority’s website (www.autorita.energia.it).
The project, fully financed by the European Commission within the framework of the ENPI (European Neighbourhood Policy Instrument) cooperation programme, will offer advantages not only to the twinned country itself, but also to the European internal energy market, looking at consumers and industrial system. , Ukraine is a crucial junction for Italian and European energy supplies: infrastructures of major importance for European energy supply security are situated in Ukraine and 80% of the Russian gas intended for EU countries passes through the country.
In particular, the Italian Authority has offered to contribute to this project, in coordination with the Italian and European government institutions, to strengthen energy relations among the EU, Italy, and Ukraine. The twinning process will be organized by the Italian Authority, which will run a consortium including also the Authorities of Romania (ANRE), Greece (RAE), and Hungary (HEO), and availing itself of the administrative support of Studiare Sviluppo S.r.l., a company partly owned by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The twinning project, which will be completed in a 24-month period, envisages the set-up of mixed working groups (Consortium and Ukrainian Authority members) called upon to achieve specific results by specific deadlines: the activation of pilot projects, drafting of regulations, and formulation of observations and proposals for legislation and local energy regulations.
The twinning activities will concern six main themes: harmonization of the Ukrainian regulatory framework in the gas sector with the European Acquis communautaire; development of the methods for formulating boosting rates; application of boosting rates for investments in the gas sector; achievement of gas service quality standards in line with European ones; management of the separation between regulated and competition-based activities; definition of rates aiming to protect the population during the transition toward the free market, with particular reference to low-income households.
The project was assigned to the Italian Authority following an international competition open to all European Regulators. The twinning project with the Ukrainian gas Regulator broadens the by-now consolidated experience in twinning projects accumulated by the Italian energy Regulatory Authority, which has already successfully completed four projects (a fully financed by the European Commission) with the Regulatory Authorities of the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Turkey; a twinning project concerning the Ukrainian electricity sector has also been completed with positive results.