Cabinet Plans to Start Electricity Market reform in 2009

Yesterday, the government adopted a transition plan to a liberalized energy market, under which the current pool model of the wholesale electricity market would be completely replaced by a bilateral contract model by 2014. According to the schedule, reform will start in 2009 with the conclusion of the first direct contracts between electricity producers and consumers. In 2011 a balancing electricity market will be created. Alexander Paraschiy: The same schedule was adopted by the government in the year 2002, but no step toward reform has been made since that time. We believe that new schedule has a higher chance of being realized, as currently the National Electricity Regulation Commission and international advisors have prepared a conception for transition to the new electricity market model and are designing a schedule of needed legal changes to support the reform. We see the reform as a catalyst for Ukrainian electricity generation companies.