Transparency in energy should become a tool to counter Russian disinformation
President of DiXi Group, Olena Pavlenko emphasized this during the presentation of the 2023 Energy Transparency Index – 3rd International Edition, which DiXi Group prepared together with World Experience for Georgia and WatchDog.MD Community.
Compared to the 2021 Index, the number of indicators in the new one increased by 7, up to 124. Another novelty is assessing public authorities and companies responsible for information disclosure in the energy sector.
The study covers electricity and gas markets, as well as cross-sectoral issues. Here is the transparency of the analyzed countries:
- Romania – excellent (86, A-)
- Georgia – good (73, B-)
- Moldova – medium (57, C-)
- Ukraine – unacceptable (38, F)
“Ukraine was second in the ranking according to the results of 2021, but dropped to the last position due to Russian aggression,” general manager for the organization of advisory services in the field of energy market development of DiXi Group Andriy Ursta points out.
Georgia, Moldova and Romania demonstrated the best transparency in the “Balances” and “Natural Monopolies”, since it is within these categories the legal requirements for disclosure of information regarding companies and state bodies are most clearly defined.
Deficient reporting on policy implementation, public spending and administration transparency led to these countries’ worst results in the “Public Authorities” and “Policy” categories.
Ukraine achieved the best results in the “Consumption” and “Public Authorities”, which are attributed to the lowest security risks for critical infrastructure, in contrast to “Balances”, “Reporting” and “Reliability and Security”, where our indicators turned out to be the lowest.
Compared to 2021, Ukraine lost 31 points primarily as a result of the full-scale Russian invasion and related rapid and indiscriminate closure of most data on the energy sector due to security risks.
Georgia showed the greatest progress in the gas market, the transparency of which increased by 6 points. Georgia’s overall indicator improved by 12 points, while Moldova’s by 2. However, the energy transparency and accountability of both these two countries and Ukraine need significant improvement.
It is motivated by what Romania has achieved, which took the longest path of reforming its energy markets and ensured its integration with the EU single market, so can serve as a benchmark for the three mentioned countries on the way to EU membership.
Ukraine is facing a “security vs. transparency” dilemma, but is capable of eradicating existing transparency gaps even despite the ongoing war, which is evidenced by the 2023 Index. Even more can be done, as 2 of 3 types of the study’s recommendations can be implemented right now without posing any security risks.
Regular assessment and analysis are instrumental and critical in pushing for consistent progress of countries’ energy sector transparency and accountability. Stream the presentation here: https://bit.ly/3LvECQn.
“The event will be held within the framework of “Strengthening transparency and accountability in the Eastern Partnership through the application of the Energy Transparency Index” supported by the European Union through Open Government Partnership Europe under EU for Integrity Programme. This publication was funded/co-funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.”
