Janez Kopač, Director of Energy Community Secretariat:
"The gas market was a success story of 2018 and also 2020 with the removal of PSO on households. Unfortunately, this was now changed and meant a huge step back. I can understand the concerns of authorities due to increased gas prices, and of course, if this measure will last till the end of March it will somehow survive, but it will last longer this would really if not kill the market but put in danger further existence of market reforms in Ukraine.
Such a measure if already was adopted should be combined, according to our perception with other measures that would secure the improvement of the competitive market environment. The most important which we promote for years is the so-called Gas Release Program was cheaper Ukrainian gas out of Ukrgazvidobuvannia would be available under the same conditions to different market participants. Perhaps, from the beginning not the whole quantity of this gas, but at least, let’s say a quarter, 25% or 30% of it would be available to everybody. Last year in Ukraine many positive things have been done, measures which allow consumers to switch the supplier are in place, we have seen a lot of switching and now this process, I would say quite aggressively with the decision form the government has interrupted. Every market needs time to develop. In every EU state when the supplier’s switch was possible, the first year not much happened, and then only information campaign and such things came on the scene, and then consumers started substantially switch the supplier.
So, for us the most important next step is, after, of course, removing the price cap at the end of March is to introduce the Obligatory Gas Release Program, and to further fine-tune the measures, which will allow switching of suppliers. There is one of them is also a long-standing request of Naftogas to have transparent access to the data about consumers and their particular codes which would allow other suppliers to promote their offers on supply.
In general, I'm unhappy with this step-back and I hope that it will be forgotten very soon.
An additional issue with the new acting minister talking but didn't develop it but would be needed is the definition of socially vulnerable customers, because only those customers would really need to be supported, and first Ukraine needs proper definition. This is missing, unfortunately, and this is also the reason why a relatively populistic measure to lower prices for everybody was adopted, this was more, I would say, for media, than to improve the market environment. But the fact is as it is, and I hope it will be forgotten soon".
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