The National Commission for Securities and the Stock Market of Ukraine has published a plan for development of commodity markets in Ukraine, including the gas and power markets, based on the concept of energy hubs. The press service of the commission reported that the plan was developed with participation of an international group of experts in line with the standards of the EU Energy Community. The commission said that the implementation of current reforms, in particular the gas market and the electricity market, does not take place in an integrated manner. It does not provide for the creation of a full-fledged payment system, such important aspects as ensuring pricing on competitive principles, requirements for the organization of trade, the activities of stock exchanges, which causes significant risks of non-payment and pose a threat to financial stability, according to the commission.
One of the main prerequisites for successful reform is the distribution of responsibilities between regulators – core (regulating the conditions and rules for the physical movement of goods) and financial (financial aspects of trading and conditions for using financial tools).
“We do not offer another energy reform. We have developed a mechanism for implementing previous reforms: the gas market, the electricity market. Reforms that started with good intentions, but without taking into account the need to develop the accompanying financial infrastructure, were implemented distortedly: one is not completed, the second is proposed to be delayed both by the regulators and market players, because it threatens to collapse the system. This happens because the markets do not function as intended. They still need administrative “manual control,” because it does not ensure compliance with its primary function – to establish a balance between buyers and vendors, they are not transparent, competitive,” Head of the commission Tymur Khromaev said.
Khromaev said that the model developed by the commission will make it possible to balance the commodity markets, ensure the establishment of fair prices, and increase the efficiency and competitiveness of the country’s economy.
In particular, the commission’s plan implies amending the law on securities and the stock market to expand trading tools on the stock exchange, which will open up the segments of energy products in accordance with the law.
