"We emphasise that as of today, there are no grounds for suspending the certification of the transmission system operator or the impossibility of using cross-border flows to attract electricity imports," the Regulator said in a statement on its website on Monday evening.
The NEURC has confirmed receipt of the letter from Artur Lorkowski, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat, dated 9 October 2024, noting that it emphasises the need to maintain the compliance of the Ukrainian TSO NPC Ukrenergo with the requirements for unbundling from Directive (EU) No 2019/944 of 05 June 2019 on the common rules for the internal market in electricity, as adapted and amended (the "Electricity Directive").
They noted that the Energy Community Secretariat informs the NEURC, in particular, about the need to complete the formation of the Supervisory Board of the operator.
Earlier, in his column for Ekonomichna Pravda, Director of the Energy Research Centre Oleksandr Kharchenko, commenting on A. Lorkowski's letter noted that the cancellation of Ukrenergo's certification threatens the import of electricity, which became possible after the synchronisation of the Ukrainian and European power systems in 2012.
As reported, in a letter addressed to Yurii Vlasenko, the Director of the European Energy Community Secretariat Artur Lorkowski, pointed out a number of non-compliances of Ukrenergo with the conditions of certification in December 2021. He emphasised the need to appoint all independent members of the company's Supervisory Board by December 9, 2024 (the term of office of the only remaining independent member, Roman Piontkovskyi, expires then), as well as to amend its Charter to strengthen the role of the Supervisory Board.
In addition, he noted that in order to prevent conflicts of interest due to the dual role of the Ministry of Energy as a shareholder and energy policy maker, its order No. 1623 created a new separate structural unit for coordination and interaction of fuel and energy operators, which is directly subordinated to the Deputy Minister, but at this stage, it is unclear how well such a unit is functioning.
In his opinion, it is also necessary to revise the Order of the Ministry of Energy No. 408/2022, which, among other things, empowers the head of the Ministry of Energy to introduce control measures and make decisions that go beyond the powers of the system owner in accordance with the ISO model.
On October 15, 2024, the press service of the EC Secretariat wrote on its official website that "claims that this process will affect Ukraine’s ability to import electricity from the EU during winter are misleading. Ukraine’s energy imports are crucial for ensuring a reliable energy supply, particularly during the cold season when access to electricity is essential for basic services and public well-being. We regret that an internal letter from the Energy Community Secretariat, addressed to the National Commission for Regulation of Electricity and Utilities Markets (NEURC), has been misused to propagate these claims." The Secretariat reiterated that its focus remains on supporting Ukraine’s energy resilience, including increasing electricity imports and repairing infrastructure.
