This is the opinion of Anton Antonenko, DiXi Group vice president, expressed to Ukrainian Energy, an Internet media outlet.
“The directive is complex: it brings together smaller “puzzle pieces” into a general picture, which is the requirements for the final level of energy efficiency, demonstrative role of public buildings, energy saving at the energy company level, and so on. It fully meets the modern European ambitions and is a manifestation of the much talked about Eurointegration in the energy efficiency aspect. Of course, the tasks it sets for the countries to be implementing it are not easy. But they promise that standard and quality of life and comfort which is referred to as European in this part of the world.
Ukraine will most likely bring the provisions of the directive into the national legislation as a separate law on which stakeholders are reportedly already working. This law, if properly prepared and voted, is expected to take into account a great number of EU recommendations. Moreover, it will systematize the energy efficiency reform initiatives.
The main performance indicator of the new European policy will be the preparation and consideration of a relevant bill in the parliament, since one similar document has already become a typical illustration of how bureaucracy may kill the very essence of a document. It is often rumored in the Agency’s corridors that one bill spent years changing hands of approving authorities, and while it reached the next-in-chain office, the approving official of the previous office changed, so that the process needed to start over and over again.
Today, when energy efficiency should be high on the agenda in Ukraine, just as the gas standoff with the Russians, it is a matter of critical importance to update and modernize the legislation and practice in this area.
