Zelensky signs law integrating Ukraine's energy market with EU

MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky has signed a law integrating the energy markets of Ukraine and the European Union, according to a bill published on the website of Verkhovna Rada, Ukrainian parliament. The law was adopted by the Ukrainian parliament on April 7. It aims to create a comprehensive legal framework for integrating the Ukrainian electricity market into the EU's internal market. The document, in particular, provides for general principles of energy market operation, uniform trading rules, and equal requirements for all participants. It also ensures technical synchronization of the markets. A mechanism for market unification is introduced for coordinated electricity trading based on prices and volumes, both on the day of the transaction and on a day-ahead basis. Earlier, commenting on the document, Vladimir Omelchenko, Director of Energy Programs at the Razumkov Center, stated that with its entry into force, electricity and gas tariffs for households in Ukraine could increase by approximately 25% this year. But he noted that a sharp price increase is not expected, it will be gradual, and the pace of price hikes will be determined by the government. Omelchenko added that Ukraine has already completed technical integration with the EU energy system in 2022 and is now moving on to the commercial phase of this process.