SKOPJE (Macedonia), September 24 (SeeNews) – Ukraine’s joining of the Energy Community will bring stability to gas supplies to Europe, a European Commission official said on Friday as the country signed the accession protocol.
Ukraine is a key transit country for transporting Russian natural gas to European Union (EU) member states, therefore the bloc is interested in the upgrade of Ukraine’s gas transportation system, the European Commission Deputy Director General for Energy Fabrizio Barbaso said at the signing ceremony.
Ukraine’s Minister of Fuel and Energy Yuriy Boyko and Macedonian Economy Minister Fatmir Besimi as the Energy Community Presidency in Office signed the protocol during the 8th Energy Community Ministerial Council meeting held in Skopje.
Barbaso also said that the Ukraine's accession "adds force to the ultimate objective of creating a pan-European energy market on the ground of the EU principles and rules".
A price dispute between Russia and Ukraine left much of Europe without Russian gas supplies for several weeks in early 2009.
”Today’s signature signals our political will to align the principles of Ukrainian energy policy with that of the European Union”, Boyko said.
He expects the Ukrainian parliament to ratify the Treaty establishing the Energy Community within the coming months.
The Ministerial Council of the Energy Community approved the accession of Ukraine and Moldova in December 2009. The signature of the Accession Protocol was, however, made subject to the adoption of a gas law in compliance with EU relevant rules, which Ukraine promulgated in July of 2010, the Energy Community said in a statement on its website.
As a Party to the Treaty, Ukraine has a binding obligation to implement the core EU energy law and thereby put in place a sound and transparent market structure. The alignment with the EU legal framework will, additionally, result in improved investment climate and higher financial stability, the statement said.
Energy Community is a process aimed at extending the EU’s internal market to South East Europe. The Treaty establishing the Energy Community entered into force in July 2006.