The Chair of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU took
part in online conference “Ukraine in Washington and Beyond: Powering
Partnerships Through Innovations and Start-Ups”. This conference has
been held annually since 2011 with the assistance of the
American-Ukrainian Foundation, a non-for-profit organization that
supports democracy, free market economy, and human rights in Ukraine,
as well as American-Ukrainian relations.
The participants of the conference discussed the threats of climate
change, as well as how Ukraine can best meet the challenges of climate
change in the coming decades.
The Chair of the Committee noted that the energy sector of Ukraine had
been the subject of attacks in various forms for many years. After the
Revolution of Dignity, according to Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Ukraine
has finally started working on ensuring true energy independence:
“After the Revolution of Dignity, we ratified the Association Agreement
with the EU, an important part of which is the energy sector. Moreover,
we managed to renew our commitments under the Agreement in the energy
sector by mid-summer 2019 (Annex XXVII to the Agreement), and for the
first time we received a legal promise from the EU that if we fulfil
our commitments, the EU will take action in terms of integration of the
Ukrainian energy sector into the EU energy markets”. At the same time,
today this process, according to the Chair of the Committee, does not
look that optimistic: “Over the past few years, we are moving one step
forward and two steps back. During this time, we have already changed 4
energy ministers, which does not allow for systematic work in this
direction. Moreover, the main task in this area — to integrate into the
European continental grid ENTSO-E is at an early stage of
implementation, despite the fact that Parliament has finally done its
job and the laws allow it to do this. We understand that many technical
and political decisions still need to be made, including political
will. And, obviously, it depends not only on the decisions that will be
made in the EU, but, first of all, on the decisions and actions within
Ukraine”.
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze also noted that the constant change of rules
and regulatory policy in Ukraine does not add confidence to our
partners, in particular, in the field of renewable energy, gas market
and electricity. In order to preserve energy and not only energy
independence, Ukraine shall stop trying to return to the practices it
has managed to abandon: “The authorities import electricity from Russia
and Belarus. This is not in line with our intentions to integrate into
the European electricity grid. If this is not stopped, Russia will use
it as another lever of influence on Ukraine. Another threat is to buy
gas from Russia again, which we have not done for more than 7 years. We
bought reverse gas through our partners from the EU”, — Ivanna
Klympush-Tsintsadze said.
The Chair of the Committee noted that Ukraine had a common interest
with the United States — to do everything possible to ensure that the
construction of the “Nord Stream-2” gas pipeline was not completed:
“The US national interest completely coincides with the Ukrainian
national interest. We will be naked in the face of the Russian
Federation and the possible escalation of its aggression and full-scale
attack on Ukraine if “Nord Stream-2” is completed and Ukraine loses gas
transit from Russia to the EU”. Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze is also
convinced that the current dialogue between Ukraine and the United
States lacks sincerity and openness. “Trust is very difficult to build,
but very easy to destroy. And when we see in various areas — in the
energy sector, in anti-corruption reform, in judicial reform, that the
necessary efforts are not made to accomplish crucial tasks — it
undermines trust. The current authorities should be much clearer in
formulating its goals and transparent in achieving them”, — the
Committee Chair concluded.