May 31 – June 1, 2010, Kyiv

 1st European-Ukrainian Energy Day was held in Kyiv on May 31 – June 1, 2010. The event was organized by European-Ukrainian Energy Agency (EUEA) and Conference House, supported by partners: ISD, Arzinger, Isover, Alfa Laval, Philips and Eco-Optima. 

The most challenging issues were discussed during the first day, concentrating on the legislation bottlenecks for energy-saving and renewable energy projects implementation and project financing. “Energy issues have to be dealt with in an integrated way, from supply to demand. Reforms in this sector have to be brought and designed together by all stakeholders, from authorities to IFIs and business-community” said Mr. Jean-Andre Barbosa, Chairman of EUEA in his opening speech. The relevance of combining various stakeholders was proved by almost 300 participants from governmental institutions, IFIs, international donor organizations and NGOs, as well as leading experts of business community from more than 10 countries. The participation of representatives of European Commission, Energy Community Secretariat and Ukrainian Government proved the importance of the energy efficiency dialogue on the EU-Ukraine level. 

Head of National Agency on ensuring efficient use of energy resources (NAER), Mr. Sergey Ermilov, during the opening informed about the adoption of National Economic Program, which includes the goal of decreasing energy consumption by 20% by 2015, decreasing CO 2 emissions by 20% and developing renewable energy up to 5% of the energy balance. The implementation of the programme needs 250 billion UAH, which will include 25% of financing from the National Budget. A significant part of this money has been already allocated by IFI’s, but “as of today the money is secondary issue for us. We have a lot of unused credit lines, but what we are lacking are qualified projects, that could apply for financing from a financial institution” said Head of NAER. 

Deputy Minister of Housing and Communal Services, Mr. Aleksander Mazurchak, named a few reasons that hurt the process of Ukraine to becoming energy independent, among them: the tariffs for the energy resources for population and poor legislation. “The Ministry has already developed the main laws, needed to move forward, at least within the sector of communal services. First of all it is Housing and Communal Codex, which will be adopted in the nearest future, also the law on energy efficiency in buildings, changes to the law on condominiums and to the procedure of setting the tariffs”, said Mr. Mazurchak. Among the most important challenges is also the mentality of Ukrainians, the fact that they are used to have government paying for these services, and the understanding of the need to save is almost absent among the population. 

The second day of the Energy Day was focused on practical sessions on Wind Energy, Bioenergy, including Biomass and Biogas, as well as session on energy efficiency in buildings and district heating systems. The sessions focused on practical issues that should be addresses in Ukraine, to create a positive investment climate. EUEA has developed position papers on each of the topics which were discussed at each of the sessions, and will further be presented to relevant authorities after including the views and suggestions of participants. 

During the closing session of the Energy Day various programs of financial institution as well donor and NGO projects were presented. It is more than 20 active international organizations dealing with various aspects on energy efficiency and renewable energy in Ukraine. “Given the activity and interest, good coordination of efforts between the stakeholders is required in order not to repeat the efforts and voice a single opinion to Ukrainian government” said Elena Rybak, Director of EUEA.