On July 1, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (the CMU) approved of a comprehensive plan for restructuring of national joint stock company “Naftogaz of Ukraine” in line with the new law “On the natural gas market” adopted by the Parliament on April 9, 2015. Naftogaz’s unbundling has been a key aspect of the Ukrainian gas sector reform. The CMU resolution has not yet been officially published; however the draft text (the draft plan) is available.
The draft plan was created by the government in cooperation with the Energy Community Secretariat (the ECS) and its primary goal is to ensure Ukraine’s compliance with the Energy Community legal framework. In particular, the draft plan outlines a number of steps to be taken by Ukraine’s state authorities to meet the country’s commitments under the Energy Community Treaty and the “3rd Energy Package” of the European Union (in particular – Directive 2009/73/EC concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas) with respect to unbundling of the transmission system operator (TSO).
The state oil and gas monopoly Naftogaz is, together with its subsidiaries, currently carrying out gas production, transmission, storage and supply functions in Ukraine. The government must ensure that TSO – Naftogaz’s subsidiary Ukrtransgaz is legally and functionally independent from Naftogaz and from any of its gas production and gas supply operations. The draft plan contains a list of government measures and actions to be taken for such unbundling, and also provides for strict implementation deadlines.
It is worth noting that according to the gas market law, the government was entitled to decide upon the unbundling model – either ownership unbundling (OU) or independent system operator (ISO). According to the draft plan, the Government opted for the OU model. (Naftogaz-Europe/Business World Magazine)
