Energy diplomacy was discussed in Lviv

On November 07, 2017 a round table discussion “Energy diplomacy: what does this mean for Ukraine” was held in Lviv.

The event took place following the initiative of the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute and with the support of iC consulenten Ukraine.

The participants of the round table included experts of the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute Slavtcho Neykov, the first Director of the Energy Community Secretariat, Atanas Georgiev, lecturer at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Markiyan Malskyy, Honorary Consul of Republic of Austria in Lviv, Sergiy Babak, deputy mayor of Lviv for housing and communal services, Roman Matis, head of the Department of investments at Lviv Regional State Administration, Oleg Matviykiv, pro-rector for scientific and pedagogical work and international relations of the National University “Lvivska Politechnika”, along with other representatives of Lviv local authorities, NGOs, energy experts. The discussion was moderated by Elena Rybak, director of iC consulenten in Ukraine and board member of the European-Ukrainian Energy Agency,

The Bulgarian team arrived in Lviv within the educational project on energy diplomacy, which  the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute (BDI) implements within the framework of the US Government Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) aiming to support initiatives, related to energy security and energy diversification of the Western Balkan countries, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Armenia. The project included series of lectures on energy diplomacy for students of four leading Ukrainian universities along with meetings with business communities and local authorities in Kyiv, Chernivtsi and Kharkov. On 6^th-7^th November the experts held lectures on energy diplomacy for students of the National University “Lvivska Politechnika”. The following topics have been discussed during the round-table:

• Assessment of the status quo regarding the role of Ukraine in energy policy;
• Political and legislative base in Ukraine and its correspondence to the EU energy policy;
• National and regional challenges on the way of implementation of the EU energy policy on the national level;
• The role of business and public in promoting European values in energy sphere.

The discussion was opened by a pro-rector for scientific and pedagogical work and international relations of the National University “Lvivska Politechnika” Mr.Matviykiv Oleg. In his opinion, the concept of energy diplomacy gains the higher relevance in political and economic spheres in Ukraine, since this is a modern, effective and recognized tool for addressing global affairs of the energy market development.

The Honorary Consul of Republic of Austria in Lviv, Mr.Markiyan Malskyy during the round-table stressed that the energy industry is attractive to investors because there is one of the highest green tariffs in Ukraine. Mr. Malskyy underlined that “the state is presenting excellent prospects for investments in energy sector” and he is confident that “they will be successful”.

Meanwhile, the Consul reminded about one of the significant obstacles for energy diplomacy in Ukraine – a heavy overregulation in the energy sector. However, he expressed confidence that Ukraine will continue working on it and that radical changes are always complicated.

During the round table, Bulgarian experts shared their sound experience in this sector. Slavtcho Neykov reminded participants that the world is changing very fast and Ukraine should not underestimate its role on the energy market.  “Policy is important, but business creates new employment opportunities and pays taxes”, – he said.

Elena Rybak, Managing Director of iC consulenten and board member of the European-Ukrainian Energy Agency, the moderator and organizer of the round-table, asked the participants to make a list of priority actions, which could help Ukraine to strengthen energy diplomacy. Thus, there were suggestions to reboot the legislation, build capacity of local government bodies and promote energy efficiency as a national priority.

“The lobby law, the authorized representative of Ukraine on energy diplomacy issues and the training of qualified personnel are among the priorities mentioned in previous events in other cities”, – summarized Elena Rybak.

The international partners of Ukraine from their own experience understand how important it is to invest resources and time in the future generation, which could lead Ukraine to a new level of a competent dialogue on the energy diplomacy.

For this reason, this educational project of the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute became possible and one component of it was now held in Lviv. “We expect that thanks to the lectures, hundreds of Ukrainian students will discover new aspects of this very important topic and, possibly, begin to study it deeper and more professionally,” said Elena Rybak.

The project of the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute is now finalized with the strong wish to bring more knowledge about energy diplomacy to more young specialists and leaders. We look forward for continuation of this project!