Ukraine to receive EU4Energy assistance in developing regulations needed for oil stocks reform

On 9 June, EU4Energy Governance launched a technical assistance project to assist Ukraine in the transposition of the Oil Stocks Directive 2009/119/EU. Over the next few months, representatives of the Verkhovna Rada, the State Reserve Agency and the Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine will work with Energy Community Secretariat experts on elaborating the secondary legislation needed for the implementation of the oil stocks reform.

The Council Directive 2009/119/EC of 14 September 2009 as adopted in the Energy Community imposes an obligation on Contracting Parties to maintain at least a minimum level of emergency stocks of crude oil and/or petroleum products and to put in place the necessary procedural means to deal with a serious shortage in oil supply. Emergency oil stocks are to be released on the market only in the case of a disruption to ordinary oil supply due to extraordinary circumstances.

The establishment of emergency oil stocks has the potential to significantly improve domestic oil market operations and enhance oil supply security.

* The EU4Energy Initiative covers all EU support to improve energy supply, security and connectivity, as well as to promote energy efficiency and the use of renewables in the Eastern Partner countries Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. It does this by financing projects and programmes that help to reform energy markets and to reduce national energy dependence and consumption. Over the longer term, this makes energy supply more reliable, transparent and affordable, thus reducing energy poverty and energy bills for both citizens and the private sector.