Concession and rent: Why cannot Ukraine attract investors in the energy sector?

Ukraine declares a European green course, but investors come across bureaucratic walls and legislative mazes. As outdated legislative norms do not allow to run Green infrastructure is even where there is money, plans and partners. Alexei Gnatenko says, the head of the practice of dispute resolution in juscutum

Buy an annual subscription on 6 magazines forbes Ukraine with meaningful materials, ratings and analytics from 1 350 UAH.

Ukraine has declared its dedication to the energy transition. The Ukrainian side signed an Association Agreement with the EU, joined the energy community, declared its dedication to strengthening energy cooperation.

In practice, the state hinders infrastructure changes with outdated rules that do not meet European approaches. In particular, it is the Law of Ukraine No. 155-IX of October 3, 2019 on concession, №3687-VI of July 8, 2011 on the lease of objects of the fuel and energy complex and No. 192/96-BP of May 15, 1996 on pipeline transport.

Popular Company category Date yesterday Glovo is a marketplace. As the largest food and food delivery service changes. Interview with the co -founder of Glovo Sasha Misho and CEO of the Ukrainian Office Marina Pavlyuk

Legislative deadlock Potentially attractive for concessions or leases are state assets in energy, including GTS, electricity, underground gas storage facilities, thermal power plants and other objects that can be adapted for green technologies, such as hydrogen or multi -energy logistics.

Despite the existence of general concession legislation and special lease lawsFuel and energy complex

“Data-Title> Peckmost key energy assets are actually withdrawn from their regulation through industry laws.

This applies in particularGas transport system

“Data-Title> GTSmain networks and gas storage facilities, where it is either directly prohibited from applying concession and rent, or the conditions that complicate the involvement of investors for modernization. As a result, the legislative framework does not meet the needs of green transformation and energy transition.

Even for objects that can formally be leased or concession, procedures remain too complex and focused on old industrial models. The lack of flexible tools for public-private partnership, stabilization guarantees and adaptation procedures for new technologies inhibits the launch of large-scale investment projects in energy.

More and more international partners are ready to invest in energy, including hydrogen, projects, modernize Ukrainian infrastructure and launch pilot green corridors. However, at each stage, they face serious legal, procedural and institutional barriers. Paradoxically, Ukraine has all the external opportunities for development, while at the same time faces the internal obstacles that it created itself.

Concession that became a maze The Law of Ukraine “On Concession” was to become a universal tool for cooperation between the state and investors, creating clear rules of the game for both parties. However, in practice, this mechanism is more like a complex maze.

Investors face bureaucracy, risks and unpredictability that instead of stimulating infrastructure development, in particular in the field of renewable energy and hydrogen technology, it creates legal traps. It demotivates investors, depreciates the transparency of the process and destroys trust.

This is especially evident in Greenfield projections, where you need to build infrastructure from scratch. In order to implement such a project, the investor must go through many approvals, among which the most unpredictable is the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers. This is only part of the problem.

Another barrier – a public partner within the concession can only be a public authority. However, critical infrastructure is usually controlled by state -owned enterprises that do not have such authority. Therefore, key participants often remain out of the process. In addition, the presence of political instability and the lack of effective protection mechanisms only complicate the situation, turning a concession into an unpredictable process with high risks to the investor.

Created to restrain the lease law A similar situation in the field of rental of objects of fuel and energy complex, which are state-owned. The legislation governing this area has been developed with the emphasis on privatization protection rather than investing. His logic is restraint, not development.

Today, when Ukraine needs to adapt the energy system to the European climate course, this model is not only outdated, but also became a serious brake for progress.

Projects on the modernization of energy objects through international financing are faced with barriers that are contrary to economic common sense. Many objects that could become the basis for energy breakthrough are simply inaccessible due to strict legislative restrictions. Investors who are used to European standards often face a legal environment where these standards are not applied.

The Association Agreement with the EU obliges Ukraine to harmonize its energy legislation with Acquis Communautaire – PR Avlov base of the European Union. It is not only a formal change in norms, but also a rethinking of approaches.

Ukraine must move from total control to effective regulation, from administrative management to transparent partnership. This involves the equality of participants, competitiveness and open access to infrastructure – what is lacking today in the Ukrainian model of concessions and renting in energy.

In Europe, hydrogen hubs and cross -border corridors are already actively developing, countries coordinate infrastructure, create joint operator platforms, and all of which – on the basis of clear and reliable legal regimes.

Ukraine, even with the support of programs such as rePowreu and Ukraine facility, can not offer investors such legal certainty. As a result, the country loses opportunities that could become catalysts for economic growth.

Strategy without status The situation with the hydrogen strategy of Ukraine by 2050 vividly illustrates how ambitious goals can remain only on paper. It has not yet been approved and only appears in the list of priority actions of the government for 2025.

The document provides for the integration of Ukraine into European infrastructure and the development of hydrogen exports, but without legal status and a clear action plan, this strategy does not have practical force. As a result, investors and government agencies do not understand what to focus on and how to act in the context of public policy.

The main problem is not in some legislative gaps, but in the absence of consistent political will to change the approach to investments and infrastructure. As long as the state perceive investors as requests and national assets – as inviolable artifacts, loud statements about strategic partnership with the West will remain empty words.

Ukraine must clearly understand: infrastructure is not a monument, but a tool. It is through the tools that we build or depreciate determine the country’s place in the world economy and politics.

Time for institutional transformation An attempt to restart public-private partnership without updating a legal framework is the same as building a new energy on outdated approaches. Not a point correction, but structural transformation. It must be agreed with the goals of the European Green Agreement, the principles of the circular economy and the logic of the energy transition.

Only when state institutions begin to work in the logic of partnership, not restrictions, will Ukraine be able not only to integrate into the EU, but also to influence the formation of new energy architecture of Europe.

Formally, Ukraine has all the prerequisites: international agreements are signed, strategic goals declared, access to financing is, supporting society is available. But as long as real actions, there are only good intentions on paper, we remain observers of the energy transition, not its active participants.

The institutional delay is essentially a hidden refusal.

The gun