The Cabinet moved yesterday to defend the National Energy Company of Ukraine (NC ECU), the state holding company that owns state stakes in power sector companies, against President Yushchenko’s recent effort to abolish it. The Cabinet made changes to its resolution “On creation of the National Energy Company of Ukraine,” deleting a reference to a 2004 presidential decree, which Yushchenko recently canceled, that was the basis for the NC ECU’s creation. Alexander Paraschiy: By deleting the reference to the presidential decree, the NC ECU now exists according the Government’s initiative and is no longer under threat of dissolution. We think the Cabinet wants to maintain the status quo and postpone sector privatization. Please refer to our analyst’s notebook on energy sector events released yesterday.