On August 26, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine and the coalition of Ukrainian and international organizations RISE Ukraine. As part of the cooperation, the Rebuild Ukraine Digital Management (RUDM) system will be launched. During an expert discussion, the speakers presented the vision for the system.
The RUDM system is a modern anti-corruption tool of public administration. It should contribute to coordinating all the parties’ efforts and support the most effective decisions. The RUDM will be linked to the Register of damaged and destroyed property and the geospatial database.
“The creation of the Register is the basis for the Digital reconstruction of the country. In the Register information about all the destruction caused by Russian military aggression, of various types of objects and various types of property will be accumulated,” commented Oleksandr Kubrakov, Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine.
The need for such work is caused by the scale of the destruction — during six months of the full-scale invasion, the enemy caused direct damage to the infrastructure of Ukraine in the amount of 113.5 billion dollars. “Now, these are preliminary calculations that we are doing together with the Kyiv School of Economics and World Bank experts. In the register, all this information will be calculated and verified in detail.
At the next stage, with the support of donors and partners, together with the coalition of non-governmental organizations RISE Ukraine, we plan to launch the development of all the system’s modules. The system should become the one joint anti-corruption tool of state administration, ensuring transparency and efficiency of reconstruction and coordination with international partners.
I want to thank the donors, partners and colleagues from the Ministry of Digital Transformation for active joint work — we have ahead the formation of a single ecosystem of solutions for the country’s reconstruction as well,” added Oleksandr Kubrakov.
In particular, the functionality of the RUDM system should provide
It is about the efficient and transparent usage of digital tools at all stages of an infrastructure project — from data analysis and planning, design and procurement, to project implementation, quality assessment and operational maintenance.
RUDM will ensure transparency, which will become a safeguard against corruption — a variety of users, including international partners, donors, and experts from civil society will be able to monitor and analyze the progress of projects and their costs. There will be a public module with open data. It will ensure data publication, according to the international standards, specifically the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) and the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard (BODS).
There is also a plan to implement related projects as part of the cooperation of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine and individual members of the RISE Ukraine Coalition — post-medical rehabilitation of veterans and victims of war on the basis of sanatorium-resort centers, strengthening of civil defense at transport hubs, and training of specialists to participate in reconstruction.
Andrii Borovyk, CEO of Transparency International Ukraine, co-founder of the RISE Ukraine Coalition, emphasized the importance of cooperation between civil society and the state: “Reconstruction is a joint project. Back at the conference in Lugano, where we announced the creation of the RISE Ukraine Coalition, we presented our approach, which is cooperation between civil society, the state, business and international partners. This memorandum is a public commitment to such cooperation.”
RISE Ukraine has identified as its key areas of activity the creation of the institutional architecture of reconstruction, the implementation of the electronic System of digital reconstruction management, monitoring and prevention of corruption, as well as the fixation and implementation of best practices.
“For each of these areas, we offer not only expertise but also specific solutions,” added Viktor Nestulya, co-founder of the RISE Ukraine Coalition, Head of Ukraine Support at Open Contracting. The coalition plans to establish such cooperation with other state bodies, organizations, and institutions. “The memorandum is open to be joined,” Viktor Nestulya emphasized.
Oleksii Dorogan, CEO of the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) spoke about the implementation of the Rebuild Ukraine Digital Management system: “Rebuilding the country is a complex and long process. But Ukraine is a leader in digital transformation, so we have to make this process fast, efficient, and inclusive. Using the example of the Ministry of Infrastructure, we are already launching a pilot of the Digital Reconstruction Management System. After full deployment, the system will cover the full cycle of work on reconstruction projects and should ensure transparency, accountability, and efficiency in the planning of Ukraine’s recovery process.”
Over time, these collaborative developments can be easily scaled to other industries and facility types. “The pilot project is being carried out under the supervision of the public, and the Memorandum that was signed today allows us to consolidate and develop this cooperation. This is the first step on a long road,” added Oleksii Dorogan.
Recorded Stream (in Ukrainian)
The transport sector is one of the biggest sources of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions – not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe. The Ukrainian situation is aggravated by the fact that a large part of commercial and private vehicles is outdated and negatively affects the environment, as well as the health of urban residents. This especially applies to used vehicles, which at one time were brought to Ukraine in an uncontrolled manner. In order to improve the situation in the transport sector, a comprehensive transport policy is needed. What such a policy should include and how it should correlate with the European Green Deal? To answer those questions, BRDO analysts published the new Green paper “Implementation of the European Green Deal in Transport Sector and Forming Sustainable Mobility”.
Today, Ukrainian transport is responsible for about 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions, although in 2018 the share of oil consumption in the sector was 71% of the total consumption in Ukraine. Over the past three decades, the composition of emissions has changed significantly. The share of emissions from automotive vehicles increased the most. In 2017, road emissions accounted for more than 70% of all transport emissions, making it the most important issue for the future of transport policy. The situation is similar to the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions by types of transport in the EU.
“The transport policy for Ukraine should be developed in such a way as to provide new types of transport for citizens and improve their quality of life. Politics must be socially just, accessible to citizens and politically feasible. For example, in the context of sustainable development, the low level of motorisation in Ukraine should be seen as an advantage that helps avoid the creation of a car-oriented mobility system. Accordingly, it is important to provide alternative forms of transport, especially in cities, modernise urban transport and popularize active forms of individual mobility, such as cycling. In our Green paper, we propose to develop an integrated strategy that combines all types of transport and prescribes detailed changes in each direction,” said Oleksii Dorogan, CEO of BRDO.
The Green paper, developed by BRDO, contains an analysis of the European Green Deal and an action plan for its implementation in Europe, as well as an analysis of the compliance of Ukraine’s state policy with the principles of the Green Deal and opportunities for decarbonization of various types of domestic transport.The Green paper is available at regulation.gov.ua (in Ukrainian).
Bill No. 5091, which is important for the field of urban planning, was adopted today by the Parliament in the second reading. Protecting the rights of buyers of future real estate is the main goal of the document developed with the participation of BRDO team.
These are individuals and legal entities who buy objects of unfinished construction (for example, cottages), residential and non-residential premises in objects that are under construction. From now on, the buyer of the future real estate is much better protected and receives guarantees of protection of his rights in the event of, for example, incomplete construction.
What is changing?
Draft Law No. 5091 creates effective legal mechanisms for the state’s guarantee of property rights to objects of unfinished construction and future real estate objects. In particular:
1. Funds for the purchase of a future real estate object (apartments, parking spaces, etc.) are raised in one of the following ways:
2. The buyer is protected by laws on the protection of consumer rights (for individuals) and property rights;
3. Special property rights are registered on the object of unfinished construction, the future real estate object, which makes resale impossible;
4. The construction customer/developer can start selling future real estate only after registering special property rights, separately for all apartments or other objects, which also makes it impossible to purchase residential or non-residential premises in the object of illegal construction;
5. The introduction of a guarantee share of the construction — a part of the object that the developer cannot sell before the end of the construction, which is an effective source for covering costs in case of completion by another customer of the construction of the unfinished construction object;
6. The construction customer/developer is obliged to coordinate adjustments in the project documentation with the buyer, if such adjustments affect the interests of the buyer;
7. The law establishes mandatory requirements for disclosure of information about the customer/developer of construction and the future apartment building.
Read more about the problem cases that have previously occurred in the Ukrainian urban planning market, and how the approved draft law can prevent their recurrence in the future, in the interview of the head of the “Construction” sector of BRDO, Taisia Baringolts, in the publication FAKTY (in Ukrainian).
Ukraine is the EU’s strategic partner, and the European vector of state policy is one of the priorities of Ukraine. It includes achieving the goal of climate neutrality and introducing modern mechanisms of decreasing and absorbing CO2 emissions in all sectors. To better understand the functioning of carbon markets, their regulatory instruments, and possibilities of their introduction in Ukraine, BRDO analysts developed the Green paper “Achieving climate neutrality: analysis of current carbon market and their regulatory instruments” with the support of the EU.
“CO2 emissions increase annually on a global scale, and governments around the world are looking constantly for new methods of managing and decreasing negative impacts of carbon emissions. We see Ukrainian efforts in analysing the state policy in achieving climate neutrality and support Ukrainian Government on this path,” said Chloe Allio, Head of Section “Economic Cooperation, Energy, Infrastructure and Environment” of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine.
Until the mid-20th century, the USA and Europe were the leaders in CO2 emissions, however the second half of the century was marked with the increase of the emissions in Asia. Today the USA and Europe share a little less than one third of all emissions. Ukraine as one of the parties of the Paris Agreement has admitted that adaptation to climate change is a global challenge that needs to be faced on a local, national, regional, and international levels. Respectively, to decrease its carbon trace, Ukraine committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 65% in 2030 compared to 1990 in the framework of the Paris Agreement.
“In order to achieve climate neutrality, it is necessary to transform public policy and align existing laws with climate initiatives. The EU is working on revising its climate, energy, and transport legislation. Ukraine is not far behind – as a part of the European integration process, we analyse international experience and available tools. In particular, BRDO’s new study on carbon markets in the Ukrainian context is one of the first in this field. Our further analytical work will consist of studying the potential of Ukraine on the way to achieving the goal of carbon neutrality in such sectors as energy, transport, agricultural production, construction, forestry, etc.,” said Oleksii Dorogan, CEO of BRDO.
The Green paper, developed by BRDO, provides analysis of the carbon trading systems, carbon taxes, regulation of import/export, and measures to stimulate the development of a low-carbon economy.The Green paper is available at regulation.gov.ua (in Ukrainian).
A meeting of member organizations of the RISE Ukraine Coalition took place in Kyiv. During the meeting, the members of RISE Ukraine approved the organizational structure of the Coalition, key directions of activities, and principles of cooperation for transparent and effective Reconstruction.
The representatives of RISE Ukraine presented the organizational structure of the Сoalition, the principles and mechanisms of interaction, and the work done during the first month.
In addition, three key areas of activities were defined and agreed upon:
The members of the Coalition also worked in groups to develop an action plan in key areas, determined the contribution of organizations in each of them, and discussed further interaction and coordination of the Coalition’s activities.
The interaction of RISE Ukraine members will be based on the principle of involvement in common areas of activity. At the same time, each of the participating organizations will continue to perform their own tasks.
Viktor Nestulia, chairman of the board of RISE Ukraine, noted that the Coalition’s critical task is to promote principles and co-creation in Reconstruction processes – both in the development of institutional infrastructure and in launching digital tools and monitoring and preventing violations. “Trust should be the basis of Ukraine’s Reconstruction. This trust is based not only on transparent processes and procedures, transparent decision-making mechanisms but also on constructive dialogue with all the stakeholders of the process,” he believes.
A constructive approach means not only criticizing decisions and practices but also proposing better options and co-creating tools for monitoring and managing the Reconstruction. “We believe that the government, business, the public, and international partners should join forces, helping each other in the joint task of rebuilding a powerful state of Ukraine,” Viktor Nestulia emphasized, adding that in the first month of the Coalition’s work it succeeded to establish a dialogue with representatives of all key recovery stakeholders.
Oleksii Sobolev, Director of Prozorro.Sales State Enterprise noted that state and public institutions have already been formed in Ukraine, capable of becoming drivers of the reconstruction. “The main task within the Coalition should be the unification of their efforts, clear organization, and interaction. For this, an effective reconstruction management infrastructure must be created – at the level of interaction between the state, the public, business, international governments, and organizations. Due to clear coordination, the efficiency of such infrastructure will increase many times over, and therefore, ambitious Reconstruction plans will become quite realistic,” he believes.
Oleksii Dorohan, executive director of the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO), emphasized the importance of creating a single Electronic Reconstruction Management System. “This is a complex IT solution that should ensure transparency, accountability, and efficiency of the planning process of Ukraine’s recovery,” he said.
According to Oleksii Dorohan, the Electronic Reconstruction Management System will consist of several key modules responsible for each stage in the Reconstruction process. The management system should combine all these modules based on open data exchange and offer convenient interfaces and dashboards that will allow everyone to monitor the status of projects. “With joint efforts, we can create an exemplary global case: a transparent, effective system based on the best examples of Ukrainian electronic systems – Diya, the Electronic system in the construction field, Prozorro, Prozorro. Sales, etc.,” he added.
Ivan Lakhtionov, deputy executive director for implementing innovative projects of Transparency International Ukraine, reminded that powerful teams for monitoring public procurement and sales, including the Dozorro project, are already working in Ukraine. “Civil society is ready to join the work of monitoring Reconstruction projects at every stage – from planning to procurement, implementation, and audit. The main task in this direction is to provide public organizations with access to open data and interaction with authorities to prevent corruption violations. These are fundamental issues on which the Coalition will work with the support of organizations throughout Ukraine and beyond,” he noted, adding that well-known public organizations engaged in monitoring have already joined the Coalition.
As of August, more than 30 organizations have joined the RISE Ukraine Coalition. The principles of Reconstruction declared by RISE Ukraine were supported by the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP), the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine, the state enterprises Prozorro and Prozorro.Sales, etc.
Information about the current activities of the coalition, progress by directions, and the most important news and articles will be published on the Coalition’s website, on social media, and through regular mailing. You can subscribe to the newsletter via the link: https://www.rise.org.ua/about
Inquiries regarding the activities of the Coalition are accepted at: [email protected]
Today, the Parliament adopted in the second reading draft law No. 7398, in the development of which the BRDO team participated. This document will create conditions for the construction of civil defense facilities and dual-purpose facilities in accordance with the level of threats arising from the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation.
From now on, new buildings with significant (СС3) and medium (СС2) classes of consequences, in which more than 50 people are permanently present or more than 100 people are periodically present, as well as other construction objects according to the list determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, must have:
This means that new apartment buildings, office centers and similar structures will have modern storage or shelters, and there will be no need to urgently convert parking lots into bomb shelters in the event of a threat.
Even more, without a section on engineering and technical measures of civil protection, project documentation for construction will not even be developed, it will not be possible to obtain the right to perform construction works and put the completed facility into operation.
It is important that all new shelters and shelters must be accessible to people with disabilities and other groups with reduced mobility.
If the built structure does not meet the requirements for engineering and technical measures of civil protection, then this is a reason for the state architectural and construction control body to refuse to issue a certificate of acceptance into operation of the finished object.
In addition, the law provides for the following innovations:
If the lessee refuses to vacate the protective structure of civil defense (part of it) or it is impossible to establish its location, then such a structure is accessed without obtaining the consent of its user. Such access is carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 29 of the Law of Ukraine “On Housing and Communal Services” and in the case of bringing the protective structure into readiness to receive the population.
We sincerely rejoice at the adoption of the draft law and hope that in the near future Ukrainians will no longer need to seek protection from Russian missiles. However, it is better to be prepared for everything and have the appropriate protection for it.
Russian gas blackmail has achieved the goal of easing sanctions. However, neither Europe nor Ukraine have any guarantees that blue fuel will be enough for a comfortable winter.
Canada and Germany made concessions to the Russian Federation by relaxing the sanctions regime in order to save the heating season in Europe. On July 17, Canada sent one of the repaired gas turbines to Germany, which could not be exported and serviced at the German Siemens Energy plants located in the North American country due to sanctions. Moscow explained the impossibility of obtaining a turbine by a radical reduction in gas supplies to Germany.
However, the German authorities are not sure that, having achieved a precedent of violation of sanctions, the Kremlin will give up gas blackmail.
In Europe, a plan was developed in case of a complete cessation of Russian gas supplies. It is planned to compensate for the shortage from other sources, but in the worst case scenario, the countries of the European Union will need to maintain or even strengthen restrictions on gas consumption, which in some states have already affected both household consumers and enterprises.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has repeatedly condemned violations of the sanctions regime. At the same time, Ukraine may also face an energy crisis in the winter – to prevent this, the authorities need to import at least 4 billion cubic meters of blue fuel, which may turn out to be a difficult task against the background of the scarcity of the resource in Western countries and its high cost.
According to forecasts, whether Ukraine and the EU will be able to pass the next winter without restrictions for the economy and population, UBR.ua turned to experts.
As of July 19, Germany’s underground gas storage facilities (SGS) were 64.44% full. This indicator, according to EU legislation, should already be 80% on October 1, and 90% on November 1.
From the middle of June, Germany had to start depleting reserves due to the heat-induced increase in electricity consumption, but most importantly – due to the reduction of the volume of supply by the “Nord Stream” to 40% of the nominal capacity (67 million cubic meters out of a possible 167 million cubic meters). At first, in Moscow, the limitation was justified by the impossibility of repairing and returning from the territory of Canada one of the gas turbines operating at the “Portova” compressor station.
Since July 10, pumping has been completely stopped due to scheduled, as noted in the Russian Federation, repair work on the gas pipeline for the period from July 11 to 21. Whether this decision was dictated only by technical needs – but even earlier, Germany had agreed to send a turbine to Canada.
According to the sources of the Russian Kommersant, Canada also, retaining the right of withdrawal, issued Siemens Energy a license to service gas equipment for Gazprom, in particular turbines, until the end of 2024.
The turbine, which caused the supply reduction, should arrive and start working at the Portova station in the Russian Federation at the beginning of August, the publication wrote. The media and the gas transport operator Opal Gastransport wrote the day before that on July 21, pumping will resume to the levels limited since mid-June. That’s what happened in the end.
In Europe, however, it is expected that after the return of the turbine, the supply will increase to full design capacity. However, officially the Russian authorities and Gazprom have not yet confirmed their readiness to do this – the state monopoly indicated that they had not received documentary confirmation of the return of the turbine and the subsequent repair of four others operating at Portova.
Moreover, on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a reduction in supply to 33 million cubic meters. m from next week – on July 26, they plan to remove one more turbine for repairs, as a result of which only one of the five turbines at the station will work. Increase the capacity to 5 million cubic meters. m after that will be possible only with the resumption of operation of the equipment repaired by Canada, Putin said.
The Western authorities, who conceded to the Russian Federation, are nevertheless sure that the ban on the repair and return of the gas turbine was used by the aggressor country only as an excuse to reduce supplies. Experts interviewed by UBR.ua also agree with this opinion. Anton Zorkin, director of the “Energy” sector of the BRDO analytical center, explained that an excessive number of turbines are specially installed at gas pumping stations to replace units that are under repair.
“All units never work together, so the absence of one or even two does not affect the volume of gas pumping. [On the part of the Russian Federation] this is 100% manipulation,” Zorkin concluded. He also added that, in any case, it would be possible to satisfy European demand “several times” by increasing supply via other gas pipeline routes.
Roman Nitsovych, director of research at the DiXi Group analytical center, noted that even before the repair in July, PP-1 accounted for more than half of the gas entering the EU. Also in a limited amount, almost 40 million cubic meters. m per day, gas went to Europe through the Ukrainian HTS. At the same time, other routes were not used – the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which passes through Poland, stopped working due to the latter’s sanctions. Also, gas was not supplied to Bulgaria via “Turkish Stream” becasue some companies pay for the resource in rubles.
However, the DiXi expert agreed that references to the need to repair the turbines are manipulative. “Even the technical regulations of Gazprom itself provide for the operation of six main and two more reserve turbines at the compressor station,” Nitsovych explained.
In his opinion, the Russian Federation, with the help of blackmail, on the one hand, managed to support high prices on the market, on the other hand, to create a precedent for the relaxation of the sanctions regime, which the Kremlin “will try to use in other [economic] directions.” Nevertheless, the “political” decision to achieve the return of the turbine, adopted by Germany, is a win-win situation for it, Zorkin believes.
“[As a result] either exports will recover and reduce the risks of passing through the heating season. But if it does not recover, then the Russian Federation will not benefit from this turbine, instead, the political motivation of Gazprom’s decisions as a supplier will be conclusively proven and, perhaps, this will become evidence for lawsuits “, explained the BRDO expert.
At the same time, it will be more difficult for Germany, as the EU member most dependent on Russian gas, to get through the winter in the event of a complete stoppage of supplies. Such an option is not ruled out at the highest state level, as well as the introduction of emergency measures such as restrictions on the supply of gas to households.
The priority of private consumers over industrial ones in the order of gas supply was recently questioned by the Minister of Economy of Germany, Robert Habeck, who explained it by the need to soften the blow on the economy, “DW” wrote. One way or another, but the amount of payment for gas and heating in Germany should increase three times, the publication cites the assessment of one of the specialized state departments.
Since June 23, the second of three levels of an emergency situation in the energy sector has been in effect in Germany, which provides for the possibility of “unfreezing” of preserved coal-fired power plants and voluntary reduction of energy resource consumption by private companies and suppliers. Some of the latter already limit the hot water supply time. In the event of the introduction of the third level of danger, the government will be able to intervene in the market situation.
They also want to reduce gas consumption at the European level – on Wednesday, the European Commission published a corresponding plan, which recommends that member countries cut costs by 15% by next spring. In particular, due to a decrease in the heating temperature of public buildings to 19 degrees and an increase in the air conditioning temperature in the summer to 25 degrees.
On July 20, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also called a probable scenario of a complete stoppage of gas supplies from the Russian Federation. But not all the countries of the European Union will be equally affected by the reduction in the export of blue fuel by the aggressor country, our interlocutors note.
As Anton Zorkin points out, states “that understood the risks of dependence on Russia” – the Baltic countries, Eastern Europe, Greece, Croatia, the Iberian countries “and even Bulgaria, which is pro-Russian on other issues, built regasification terminals or interconnectors on their territory and now provide themselves and partially neighbors with a sufficient amount of LNG” (LNG – liquefied natural gas).
The gas interconnector, built between Estonia and Finland, allowed the latter not to feel the rejection of purchases of blue fuel from the Russian Federation, DiXi expert Nitsovych adds.
However, even the countries most vulnerable to Russian gas blackmail – Germany and France – due to emergency measures to save resources for the population and industrial enterprises, construction of LNG terminals, resumption of operation of coal and nuclear power plants, will be able to, if not completely normalize the situation, at least avoid a “serious crisis with an apocalyptic tone, as predicted by some mass media in the West,” says Zorkin. A complete stoppage of supplies from the Russian Federation will not lead to such a scenario.
“Of course, during the winter, primarily in the second half, there will be periods of imbalance between supply and demand on the market, price spikes will be observed, voluntary or forced restrictions on consumption will be applied, but this will not cause significant damage to the economy,” the BRDO expert is confident.
The government set NJSC Naftogaz the task of filling 19 billion cubic meters of storage before the start of the heating season. m of gas, although the state company itself proposed to limit the level of reserves in PSG to 15 billion cubic meters. m. The latter figure would be more in line with Ukraine’s needs for the next heating season, given the population outflow and the occupation of part of the territories, noted DiXi expert Nitsovych.
However, under the condition of 15 billion cubic meters. m, PSG “Naftogaz” would have to additionally import blue fuel already during the heating season, explained the head of NAK Yuriy Vitrenko. This increases the risks of its passage – as noted by Zorkin from BRDO, if exports from the Russian Federation to Europe stop, gas from the EU will most likely not arrive in Ukraine either.
In order to accumulate 19 billion cubic m before the heating season, Ukraine needs to import another 4 billion cubic meters before its onset. m, which requires $8 billion, Naftogaz said. Now the government and NACs are working on finding funding.
The material is published in UBR.ua
“UKRAINE NOW. A vision of the future” special project of NASC
This war prompts us to get rid of illusions and frivolity, rethink public values and make important decisions for the state in a broad circle. We talked about inclusivity in the formation of policies, corruption and oligarchs, as well as the lessons of war during an interview for a special project of the NAZK.
We are going through a war that can be called the War of Dignity – a kind of continuation of the Revolution of Dignity. By “dignity” I mean the assertion of one’s own autonomy, maturity, and completeness.
We may begin to rely only on ourselves for the first time when we begin to think about our own future. It is strange for the whole world: a neighbouring state suddenly decides that it knows better what it means to be Ukraine, what it means to be Ukrainian, that Ukraine is supposedly Russia, it starts some kind of policy of denazification, in fact deprives us of our subjectivity.
We are a mature enough people who can decide their own future. Actually, we are now protecting our future, our right to be a full-fledged nation, a full-fledged people, a society, a state.
This is accompanied by several significant changes.
First, we get rid of the illusion that someone will decide something for us. This is generally typical for the region of post-Soviet countries.
Everyone thinks that Western sanctions will allow them to dislodge their authoritarian leaders. Many hoped for this – from Russian liberals to Belarusian leaders of the protest movement. Even now, for some reason, the Russians believe that the Armed Forces of Ukraine should help them remove Putin.
Transferring one’s own responsibility for the future to someone and believing that someone should help us – little by little we begin to move away from this, we begin to understand that there is support, but the main burden of difficult decisions must be taken upon ourselves. We get rid of illusions, we look at things more soberly.
Secondly, the final desacralization of everything Russian is taking place. For many years we had a feeling of inferiority, which was strongly cultivated by the Russian and pro-Russian mass media: “great culture”, Tchaikovsky, Pushkin, Scriabin, etc. Compared to that, our culture seemed inferior, peripheral, secondary. Now we see a very large reverse process — a complete devaluation of the significance of everything Russian.
Many Ukrainian cities are deprived of monuments, names of streets and parks, the Russian church and pro-Russian narratives are criticized, and media resources are banned. Ukraine is becoming more critical of the high value of Russian culture.
Thirdly, we have a very difficult process of moving a large number of people.
We know how many refugees left Ukraine, primarily to Europe, and there is also a large part of internally displaced persons. Solving the problem of “stitching” western and eastern Ukraine, which arose even after the first Maidan in 2004-2005, is now taking place on a purely human level, when refugees from one region end up in another. They find support, understanding, recognition.
As for Ukrainians abroad, they will now build bridges of human relations all over the world. For us, this is a new chance to integrate into a wider modern society, a chance to rethink ourselves, to carry out the westernization of Ukraine.
And finally, there are geopolitical changes. Isolation of Russia has already partially occurred in all senses: cultural, business, sports, and scientific.
Anti-Russian, Russophobic sentiments are growing at the personal and cultural levels in countries where Russians were previously accepted as full-fledged partners, as people with whom one can have civilized relations. I think Russia has ruined its reputation for years. The attitude towards the Russians for decades will be determined by the uncivilized form of aggression that Ukraine experienced from them.
We are observing an increase in the level of trust in public institutions. First of all, this applies to those institutions that are one way or another related to the war: the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, rescuers, the National Guard, the Ministry of Infrastructure, which ensures the repair of railways, organizes the transportation of people, etc. In part, this trust begins to reflect even on areas that have traditionally been criticized in Ukraine.
Leaders of distrust, such as the Verkhovna Rada, the courts, the prosecutor’s office, and customs, suddenly stopped being criticized in the public sphere. Trust in certain institutions began to be transferred to other institutions with a neutral attitude – not with suspicion or prejudice.
The “state-people” relationship has changed significantly: the state is beginning to learn to interact with the self-organization of citizens, primarily volunteers.
The Ministry of Defense, local self-government bodies, local state military administrations somehow try to coordinate their activities with the array of charitable activities carried out by public organizations. This is a big change that must continue. Authorities are becoming more open and less jealous of such cooperation, they are gaining some experience of impartial interaction.
The level of mutual trust in society has risen. When people transfer money from card to card, donate funds or invest their own efforts in the work of volunteer organizations, they contribute to a higher level of trust. And when the belief in the good intentions of others increases significantly, we are talking about an increase in the level of public trust both at the institutional and interpersonal level. We are turning from a “suspicion society” into a “society of more benevolent attitudes towards each other.
We need to expand our view, involve a wider circle in the process of creating ideas, without waiting for some intellectual elite from their environment to create “super ideas”.
There should be a difficult process of comparing different positions, their critical analysis, rationalisation of this process, incorporation into the preparation of government decisions, etc. This is a huge work that has not yet begun – even the need for it is not yet sufficiently realised in our society.
Until now, it was believed that corruption is not bad, but acceptable, you can live: not good, but not a sin that will deprive you of the Kingdom of God. And now corruption will be perceived almost as national treason. Perhaps I, as a philosopher, fall into excessive pathos here, that is, I pass off wishful thinking – what is called “wishful thinking”. But I see that the discourse “all sold, all bought” is becoming less and less. Maybe because the war, and it distracted public attention. But I really want to hope that there has been a mental and psychological breakdown in society.
What are oligarchs anyway? If we take the primary Greek meaning of the word, it is the power of the few. There is a monarchy (mono- – one), there is a poly-, there is a democracy, where the whole people – kratos – has the right to power. Oligarchy is the power of the few, that is, someone has privileged access to decision-making. Strip him of that privilege, and strip others of access discrimination, and the problem is solved. Therefore, the only way to fight oligarchs is to give them equal opportunities to influence the formation of policies.
These should be arguments, not influences. For me, this is a question of privilege and discrimination in terms of participation in policy making. One definition of justice is equality for unequals. Streamline the policy-making process, make it fair, open, manageable and rational, then it will remove the privileged influence of the oligarchs.
There is an international practice of how inclusion works in the policy making process. Although if it is state policy, then it must be a function of the state. Ministries and parliamentary committees should act as arenas for this. They must accumulate within themselves a process that has many participants in the game: bearers of interests, bearers of knowledge, as well as bearers of resources and powers. How to arrange them at different stages of this process is a separate big conversation.
Transparent policymaking is part of democratic governance, which, unfortunately, is not even recognised as a problem in Ukraine. We believe that the most important thing is to find the right people, put them in the right places, and they will make good decisions. In our country, all the problems of state policy boil down to personnel issues. That’s why we always revolve around two topics: how to remove scoundrels (that is, impeachment, recall of deputies and lustration) and how to lead honest people (that is, contests and new electoral legislation). Around this we all break spears.
The problems are not in the people – the problems are in the procedures, how these people are arranged and interact with each other. An absurd process cannot produce successful results. No matter who you put in the ruined “Zaporozhets”, even Schumacher, even another winner of “Formula 1”, he will not get out of it, and he will not overtake the Euroblacher neighbor. This is a big problem that we are not solving – we haven’t even realized it yet.
We very often repeat the same mistakes in Ukraine. I call it “Odysseus the Rake”. We constantly had opportunities to change something – from the moment of the declaration of Independence to the election of a new President, from President Kuchma, then to President Yushchenko, then to the Revolution of Dignity, etc. There were constant “windows of opportunity” that we blew very hard.
I hope we will not be a country that has been lost, that will be “denazified” and forced to rebuild. If we acquire the status of a candidate country for EU membership, the direction of modernisation of our institutions and our practices will appear. This will simply need to be done as homework in order to acquire full membership. It will no longer be about rapprochement, but simply about borrowing, transferring and appropriating these norms and practices.
Ukraine is now in the focus of public attention of the countries of the world. They finally began to consider our subjectivity – we can establish long-term and more productive relations with other countries, with other communities, both at the international and human level.
The uniqueness of the moment is that we are experiencing what is called an existential crisis in the individual sense, when our very existence is called into question. We must rethink ourselves. This is a moment that makes people look at themselves with different eyes. This process is not fast, but it gives an opportunity to shift those things that have remained unchanged for many years, which no one knows about or didn’t pay attention. They can become the subject of first articulation, then discussion, and therefore potential change.
Roman Kobets, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, expert in the development of state policy of the Office of Effective Regulation
The project “UKRAINE NOW. Vision of the Future” is implemented by the NAKC with the support of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI) – the leading anti-corruption program in Ukraine, financed by the EU, co-financed and implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. The goal of the project is to outline the vision of Ukraine’s development after the victory in the war with Russia. In interviews with famous Ukrainian figures, thinkers and opinion leaders, we seek answers to questions about how the state is changing today and what it should become tomorrow.
Published in Українська правда
The Russian war against Ukraine caused labour migration and may also lead to the “washing out” of Ukrainian taxpayers who were forced to flee to other countries because of the war. It is critically important for Ukraine that financial flows, despite the war, remain in the state. They form the tax base (that is, revenues to budgets), GDP, and add foreign exchange earnings.
In May, BRDO and the IT Ukraine Association appealed to the Government of Ukraine and the Ministries of Finance of Bulgaria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia with a request not to change the tax residence of refugee entrepreneurs who ended up in these countries. The success of our advocacy is evidenced by the explanation we received from the central executive body of Poland the other day.
In the official letter of the Ministry of Finance of Poland it is stated that Ukrainians may maintain tax residency in Ukraine and not pay taxes in the country of residence. Of course, income from working contracts with Polish counterparts is excluded.
“As a basic rule, we do not exclude the possibility of preserving the center of vital interests of Ukrainians in Ukraine during the war,” it is said in the statement of the Income Tax Department of the Ministry of Finance of Poland.
The step-by-step instruction for Ukrainians wishing to maintain their tax residence in Ukraine will be published shortly.
At this moment, the Polish tax law has no special rules for the immigrants from Ukraine concerning the tax residency, and the general rules apply in this regard.
With this clarification, the neighboring country once again shows solidarity with the Ukrainian people and does not try to interpret in its favor the issue of determining the “center of vital interests” of Ukrainians, even if they will be in Poland for more than 183 days.
To remind, staying in Europe for more than 183 days can create legal uncertainty in the tax residency status of Ukrainian refugees and can lead to the need to pay taxes in the country of temporary stay.
“Today, it is especially important to preserve human capital and taxes in such a way that Ukrainians who temporarily left continue to support the economy of Ukraine. This applies to all industries, but most of all to the creative economy,” says Ihor Samohodskyi, the Head of the IT&Telecom sector of the BRDO.
We express our gratitude to the Polish people and the Polish state, and we also hope that other European countries, where the majority of Ukrainians with temporary protection status reside, will follow its example.
The BRDO team will continue to advocate the issue of maintaining tax residency and paying taxes in Ukraine for our citizens who work remotely in European countries and as sole traders.
Read more on the importance of advocacy on this issue on the BRDO website.
The text of the official appeal of BRDO and the IT Association of Ukraine to the Ukrainian Government can be downloaded here (in Ukrainian).
Disclaimer: Please pay attention that received clarification is not a universal and extensive permit for Ukrainians not to pay taxes in Poland. Determining the center of vital interests and tax residence is a complex judicial task in each case and may need additional consultations with lawyers or state authorities of Poland and/or tax consultations.
Today, during a conference in Lugano a panel discussion “Efficient Reconstruction: Anti-corruption and Transparency Initiatives” dedicated to the role of civil society in ensuring transparency and accountability of the recovery process of Ukraine took place.
During the discussion it was announced that a new coalition of Ukrainian organizations and international partners — RISE Ukraine — has been launched at the Lugano Ukraine Recovery Conference to promote a vision of integrity, sustainability and efficiency for the country’s reconstruction. Better Regulation Delivery Office is among the members of the coalition.
The coalition, which unites more than 20 Ukrainian organizations working on open government and anticorruption reform, has unveiled 10 principles for Ukraine’s reconstruction and modernization. It is supported by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ministry of Economy, National Agency for Corruption Prevention, and other leading government institutions.
Oleksii Dorogan, Executive Director of Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) and advisor to the Ministry of Infrastructure: “Ukraine now has a capital that we need to treasure. It is international support, unprecedented up to this point. To ensure that it will stay this way we need accountability and transparency, because corruption remains the main risk in maintaining international support. To ensure accountability and transparency, in turn, we need digital tools. Ukraine has been the leader in digital governance for a while now. We need to use it in the recovery process and build new tools based on the successful experience.
Ukraine should own and coordinate the reconstruction, prioritizing projects and documenting the full procurement process. But we also want to ensure that citizens and international donors are able to verify all of the resources dedicated to the reconstruction through open and efficient systems. We are already mapping out business processes for their development and will be ready to present them in approximately a month.”
According to the Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov, for fast, efficient and strategic reconstruction Ukraine has to increase its institutional capacity, especially in systemic approaches and different ministries’ and agencies’ efforts coordination.
“The most effective way to fight corruption is to build effective public institutions. At the same time, anti-corruption tools and methods should be applied all along the entire cycle of every infrastructure project. Therefore, with the support of international partners and civil society, we strive to build not only new infrastructure, but also a new infrastructure project management architecture”, added Kubrakov.
Citizens and businesses should be involved in the planning, monitoring and oversight of recovery spending, building on existing citizen feedback approaches, such as using the Dozorro network of civic monitors. One of the key aims is to create a full accountability chain through publishing complete, timely, and open data in line with international best practices and open data standards such as the Open Contracting Data Standard for public procurement and the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard for information on businesses winning contracts.
“Sometimes I hear about the fatigue with the word “reforms”. There is no time now to be fatigued. It is important to put all our effort into transformation, because the time is condensed when you do recovery. It is necessary to find ways and develop digital tools to engage different stakeholders constantly. Information, openness of data, and coordination are key in this process,” said Eka Tkeshelashvili, COP of the USAID Support to Anti-Corruption Champion Institutions program in Ukraine (SACCI).
To further prevent corruption and misuse of funds, we will advocate for effective mechanisms to prosecute corruption and violations in the process of reconstruction.
The organisers of the panel discussion are BRDO together with the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine and USAID Support to Anti-Corruption Champion Institutions program in Ukraine (SACCI).
Last month BRDO analysts, with the support of the USAID Ukraine Support to Anti-Corruption Champion Institutions program in Ukraine, researched international experience and mistakes during the reconstruction, as well as analysed possible risks and developed recommendations for Ukraine to overcome them. These developments were presented and discussed during a round table with representatives of public authorities and a number of public organisations.
Russia’s war against Ukraine continues, so the destruction of Ukraine’s infrastructure by the Russian military will increase. At the same time, international assistance for the reconstruction of Ukraine is already coming from our partners and donors, and its volumes will also increase. However, any recovery program has corruption risks that need to be managed.
BRDO analysts, with the support of the USAID Ukraine Support to Anti-Corruption Champion Institutions program in Ukraine, researched international experience and mistakes during the reconstruction, as well as analysed possible risks and developed recommendations for Ukraine to overcome them. These developments were presented and discussed during a round table with representatives of public authorities and a number of public organisations.
To date, financial assistance to Ukraine has come from 21 countries and 16 international organisations, and humanitarian aid from 103 countries, 22 international organisations and numerous foreign companies.
“We are already developing approaches to transparency and accountability in the process of recovery of Ukraine. Today we are already working on the creation of the State Register of Destroyed Property – we recently presented its concept. It will be based on loss assessment methods that will be conducted and published in the register. All our partners and donors will have access to the register, so that our work is transparent and accountable to all citizens,” said Vasyl Shkurakov, First Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine.
The State Register of Destroyed Property is designed as the only place to collect data on all real estate lost or damaged during the Russian military aggression. It will be a prerequisite for the application of mechanisms for the restoration of violated property rights and a tool for management decisions on planning for the restoration of territories.
The world experience of post-war recovery and the use of international aid differs, but there are two common features in the management of corruption risks. Extra-budgetary assistance and its use should be monitored by donors. If anti-corruption measures are implemented at the design stage of a program, as well as regular audits and interactions with other donor organisations, the risks can be significantly reduced.
“In the process of rebuilding Ukraine, there is, among other things, a great risk of the influence of Russia and its agents – because even if there is no systemic corruption in the process, these agents will do everything to show that corruption exists. Accordingly, Ukraine must ensure an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability, so that any actions of Russian agents do not affect the international support of our country. The Ukrainian government itself must become a leader in transparency and accountability, because the efficiency and the amount of assistance that will be provided to us will depend on it,” said Oleksii Dorogan, Executive Director of the Better Regulation Delivery Office.
According to him, control over the implementation of budget assistance programs should be exercised by the government of the recipient country. In this case, it is important to transform the state financial management system to ensure the traceability of all funds aimed at recovery, the possibility of control by auditors and parliament, the availability of information to citizens.
“The main thing is that no single instruments will replace reforms on anti-corruption and the rule of law. However, digital tools such as an electronic recovery management system and open data will help transparent recovery. Ukraine has the opportunity to create IT mechanisms that will continue to be used in other countries,” said Ihor Samokhodskyi, Head of “IT&Telecom” sector of BRDO.
Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has maintained its institutional capacity. Thus, information about Ukraine’s losses from the war is properly recorded and processed both by state bodies and with the help of public activists. The National Council for the Recovery of Ukraine from the Consequences of the War has been established, with the taks to prepare a plan of measures for the post-war reconstruction and development of Ukraine and proposals for the necessary reforms. A number of instruments for financing the reconstruction have already been created by the Government of Ukraine together with our international partners. The next step is to build a comprehensive recovery system based on transparency and accountability.
“Transparency and accountability in the process of Ukraine’s recovery are crucial to ensuring long-term aid to Ukraine. At the same time, the continuation of systemic reforms is a key task, as they give confidence in the overall system, especially for investors. And transparency and, in particular, open data are the key to the confidence of donors and investors in the recovery process. Successful local experience in implementing digital tools needs to be scaled up across the country, as the challenges facing Ukraine are unprecedented,” said Eka Tkeshelashvili, COP of the USAID Support to Anti-Corruption Champion Institutions program in Ukraine (SACCI).
Hydrogen can be considered a universal fuel for vehicles, as it has absolute environmental friendliness, can replace gasoline, diesel fuel and fuel oil in all types of heat engines. Europe has already included hydrogen in its “green strategy” for the continent’s carbon-free future. Ukraine should also pay attention to this latest type of fuel.
Are all types of hydrogen sustainable and environmentally friendly? What are the prospects and problems of using this type of fuel in the transport sector? How can Ukraine use the country’s reconstruction period to facilitate the spread of hydrogen transport in the country?
The transition to a green hydrogen economy was enshrined in the European Hydrogen Strategy, which is part of the legal basis for the European Green Course (EPC), adopted by the European Parliament in 2020. Its overall goal is to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050, to protect biodiversity, and to green the economy. The foundations and directions of the development of EHR are laid down in the communiqué.
By synchronizing its policy with the EU, Ukraine intends to achieve climate neutrality by 2060. To support the development of the hydrogen industry and to implement the approved Hydrogen Strategy, in July 2020 the European Commission established the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance.
In Ukraine, the Hydrogen Strategy is still under development, but the National Transport Strategy, the Energy Development Strategy and the Roadmap for Widespread Hydrogen Energy Implementation in Ukraine provide a strong strategic basis for policies aimed at increasing the share of renewable energy in transport, based on biofuels, electricity and hydrogen. At the level of technical norms in Ukraine, such issues as the quality of hydrogen fuel, basic concepts on the safety of hydrogen systems and the use of hydrogen generators using water electrolysis are already regulated.
Renewable electricity is expected to decarbonise much of the EU’s energy by 2050, in particular through the spread of hydrogen energy. It is important to remember that the types of hydrogen are different in terms of production methods and, consequently, in terms of environmental friendliness.
Grey hydrogen is formed from fossil fuels and coal and accounts for about 95% of the hydrogen produced in the world today. Unfortunately, in the process of its production greenhouse gases are formed.
The most promising are 2 types of hydrogen: blue and green. Blue is made from fossil fuels, but in the process is carbon capture. Green is produced from renewable energy sources by dividing water into two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom through the process of electrolysis. Green hydrogen is called “pure hydrogen” and it is the most promising in terms of decarbonisation of various sectors, including transport.
Yellow hydrogen obtained with the help of nuclear power plant electricity is also singled out. Proponents of nuclear energy insist that yellow hydrogen can be as environmentally friendly as green.
There are currently 300 electrolysers operating within the EU, producing less than 4% of total hydrogen. Europe’s goal by 2050 is to achieve a 13% share of hydrogen energy in the union’s energy balance. There are currently several challenges to achieving this goal.
First, the need for space. Solar and wind energy, during the formation of which hydrogen is produced, is more “scattered” than fossil fuel energy, and it must be “collected” over a large area. That is why the new German government coalition, which came to power in late 2021, has reserved 2% of the country’s territory for the construction of wind turbines.
New wind and solar power plants, as well as high-voltage power lines, often lead to conflicts due to their impact on the landscape, biodiversity or health of local people. The location of wind farms at sea, in turn, provokes protests from the fishing industry.
Secondly, the need for materials. Renewable energy infrastructure, including wind turbines, solar panels and power lines, requires materials, especially metals. The spread of renewable energy sources increases the demand for iron, aluminium, copper, zinc, chromium, manganese. However, the world’s reserves of some ores, in particular copper, are already depleting. There will come a time when copper mining will require so much electricity, water, materials or land that the process will cause unacceptable environmental damage.
The EU is heavily dependent on imports of most of the metals it uses for renewable energy. Among the necessary for electrolysis are nickel, zirconium and platinum group of metals. In the platinum group, in particular, iridium is isolated, one of the rarest metals in the world, which involves such a type of electrolysis that best copes with fluctuations in the supply of renewable electricity. If it becomes the dominant form of electrolysis, the EU may need more iridium in 2030 than is currently being extracted worldwide.
In addition to metals, the formation of green hydrogen requires demineralised fresh water in the proportion of 9 litres of water to produce 1 kg of hydrogen. In sun-rich regions that are well suited for hydrogen production, fresh water is often lacking. This shortage will increase due to the effects of climate change. Under these conditions, it would be good for green hydrogen producers to establish where seawater can be used, while treating desalination waste responsibly.
The third challenge is the need for infrastructure. Estimates of how much green hydrogen the EU will need vary widely. Some scenarios indicate the production of 10 million tons of hydrogen energy – the amount that the European Commission wants to reach by 2030, and which will be enough to meet the EU demand.
Other experts predict that demand will grow much faster and reach 70 million tons by 2050. The lack of consensus complicates the work of governments and private operators to plan the necessary infrastructure for the transition to green hydrogen energy. Where should the new hydrogen pipelines be laid? What parts of the grid need to be reinforced to get enough electricity for the cells? This uncertainty is currently delaying the development of all hydrogen energy in the EU.
Hydrogen vehicles can overcome the disadvantages of electric vehicles with a low range and the need for frequent charging. This requires the full use of cheap electricity to convert water into hydrogen. It is forecasted that in the next 5 years the production of fuel cell vehicles will develop on a large scale. To accomplish this task, it is necessary to optimise equipment for hydrogen production, develop new materials for storage of high-density hydrogen and optimise hydrogen fuel cells.
Currently, there are the following private cars on hydrogen fuel cells: Toyota Mirai, Hyundai Nexo, and Honda Clarity. BMW, Jaguar and Land Rover are incorporating hydrogen into their future strategies. Water cars are attractive to the buyer because of the short refuelling time and large power reserve.
Hydrogen fuel cell bus is a very efficient public transport with zero emissions. It also effectively solves disadvantages of electric vehicles with short mileage and long charging time. It is expected to quickly replace traditional diesel and electric buses.
In Ukraine, more than half of passenger traffic is performed by buses, while the fleet of large buses has 90% exhausted its resource, and minibuses engaged in urban transportation do not meet modern environmental requirements. To distribute hydrogen buses in our country, it is necessary to develop a program for the transition of urban and interurban transport to use green hydrogen and create networks of hydrogen filling stations on major highways.
New EU emission standards for heavy road vehicles increase the need for zero-emission trucks. Companies like Renault are already starting mass production of electric trucks and say that by 2025, 10% of all trucks they sell will be electric.
However, the bet is not only on electric trucks. It is expected that a combination of modern “green” technologies will be used to decarbonise the heavy road transport sector, with green hydrogen playing a crucial role. Hydrogen trucks will be cost-effective by 2027 if hydrogen production increases rapidly. Electric vehicles are expected to play a greater role in short-haul traffic.
In general, in 2050, most heavy road transport will run on water and electricity. It is estimated that by 2050, 35% of trucks in the EU will be electric, 55% will run on hydrogen and 10% on biomethane.
Hydrogen has prospects in the railway industry, especially in its non-electrified sections. About 20% of railways in Europe are still served by diesel locomotives. It is estimated that hydrogen trains may well compete with them in terms of costs. A separate European initiative, Shift2Rail, is currently supporting the expansion of their use.
Since 2013, Alstom has been developing hydrogen-powered locomotive technology. At the end of 2018, two trains on hydrogen fuel cells of its production were launched in Germany, and the launch of 14 such trains in 2021 was also announced.
In 2019, the first HydroFlex hydrogen train was also tested in the UK. The government has decided to completely get rid of diesel locomotives by 2040, and trains running on hydrogen fuel cells could be an alternative.
Aviation is currently the second largest source of harmful transport emissions after road transport. Despite the increase in fuel efficiency of the industry, which took place from 2005 to 2017, the increase in the number of air traffic still leads to an increase in CO₂ emissions.
The use of hydrogen to decarbonise aviation is quite promising. The hydrogen engine is best suited for suburban, regional, short-range and medium-sized aircraft. Compared to conventional aircraft, operating costs increase by only $5-10 per passenger.
In September 2020, Airbus announced that hydrogen-fuelled engines would form the basis of a new generation of zero-emission commercial aircraft. The ZeroE project is the flagship of the European Union’s multibillion-dollar stimulus package aimed at greening the economy and the aviation industry. As part of it, the company has developed concepts for three aircraft with hydrogen engines, production of which may begin by 2035.
As 90% of world trade is by sea, shipping is a major factor in climate change. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) predicts that business as usual could lead to a 50% increase in harmful emissions by 2050 due to increased maritime trade.
Instead, the IMO is currently setting a target of 50% emission reductions by 2050. WEF experts have estimated the scale of investment needed to achieve the IMO target for 2050 at 1-1.4 trillion dollars. In particular, nine large multinational companies, including Amazon, Ikea, Michelin, Inditex (Zara) and Unilever, have promised to switch to sea transport only by zero-carbon ships by 2040.
The decarbonisation of the shipping industry will require significant investment in green technologies and alternative fuels. Today, shipowners are encouraged to switch to existing low-carbon fuels, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and biofuels. However, recent research on green fuels suggests that ammonia, methanol, and hydrogen will play an important role in the future of the shipping sector.
Hydrogen and hydrogen-derived synthetic fuels are projected to account for 2% of total energy demand in the transport sector in 2030, 13% in 2040 and 25% in 2050. Unfortunately, the rate of increase in green hydrogen production is limited. This fuel will be in short supply for a long time to come, so green industrial policy must take this into account.
Until green hydrogen becomes commercially attractive, it is anticipated that the development of this sector will be stimulated at European and national levels. The cost of its production will decrease in the next 10 years, but the issues of its transportation and storage still remain the main “puzzle” to be solved. In particular, the development of a network of hydrogen filling stations is needed for further progress.
According to NASU experts, Ukraine has significant natural potential for renewable energy production, which also allows it to produce hydrogen. The total potential of the average annual production of green hydrogen in our country is about 505 billion cubic meters. According to forecasts, with a favourable government policy, Ukraine is able to produce 1 billion cubic meters of renewable hydrogen by 2030, and by 2040 this figure could increase to 5 billion cubic meters.
The territory of Ukraine can become a platform for hydrogen production not only for its own needs in clean energy, but also for export to the EU market. For the development of the hydrogen fuel industry in Ukraine, first of all, state support is needed in the form of legislation harmonised with European norms and transparent rules when obtaining the necessary permits.
Various steps are already being taken by the state to develop the hydrogen transportation and storage system in Ukraine. In particular, the gas transmission system operator currently sees the Ukrainian main gas pipeline Progress as promising for the transportation of a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas. Naftogaz and Ukrtransgaz, in turn, have already joined the H2EU + Store initiative. It provides for the production of green hydrogen from RES in western Ukraine with the possibility of its storage in Ukrainian gas storage facilities. It is also planned in the future to export this fuel by gas pipelines to the EU, pump it into underground storage facilities in Austria and sell it to consumers in Central Europe.
The material is published on online-portal Delo.ua
Modern bomb shelters and shelters have become one step closer to Ukrainians – the Parliament passed Bill 7398 in the first reading, which will create conditions for the construction of such facilities in accordance with the level of threats posed by full-scale Russian aggression. This document was developed with the participation of BRDO experts.
It is important that from now on, new buildings with significant (CC3) and medium (CC2) impact classes, which will permanently house more than 50 people or periodically house more than 100 people, will have to have civil defense structures (bomb shelters and shelters).
This means that without a section on civil engineering engineering measures, construction design documentation will not even be developed, it will not be possible to obtain the right to perform construction work and to commission a completed facility.
In addition, all shelters should be accessible to people with disabilities and other low-mobility groups.
In case of need (for example, emergency, state of emergency, special period, etc.), bomb shelters and shelters should be ready in no more than 12 hours. And the maintenance of bomb shelters in readiness for their intended use is entrusted to their owners, users, legal entities, on the balance of which they are, at their own expense. You can read more about the bill in our previous release.
The war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine continues, and damages done to Ukrainian infrastructure from the hostilities of Russian army are going to increase. International support aimed at Ukrainian recovery is already being sent by our international partners and donors, and its volume will increase as well. At the same time, all programmes of international aid have corruption risks that must be managed. How to make the process of recovery of Ukraine transparent and accountable?
The experts of Better Regulation Delivery Office with support from USAID analysed international experience and mistakes during post-war recovery as well as possible risks and developed recommendations for Ukraine on combatting them. On Tuesday, June 21, at 13:00 the presentation of BRDO report “Transparent and Accountable Recovery of Ukraine: Challenges and Solutions” will be held.
Invited speakers:
The presentation and discussion will be held online with broadcasting to BRDO Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/brdo.ukraine. The language of the event is Ukrainian.
The BRDO report is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The European Commission has approved the final text of the Special Agreement on the Liberalization of Road Transport Ukraine – EU.
The document provides for the performance of bilateral and transit traffic by Ukrainian carriers without permits.
Why is this important?
The lack of permits for international freight provided by the country of crossing has been one of the key problems for the development of international freight in Ukraine. Since the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and the EU in 2016, trade with the European Union has almost doubled, and the number of road transport – by 42%.
At the same time, the number of permits for international transportation to individual EU countries not only did not increase, but even decreased. Every year, this led to large losses for both Ukrainian carriers and the country’s economy as a whole.
Polish bilateral permits have always been the most scarce and in demand. To meet all the demand for transportation to Europe in a growing market, Ukraine needs at least 230-260 thousand Polish permits per year. However, in 2018 the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development of Poland issued only 200,000 such permits, and in 2019 reduced their number to 160,000.
Since then, the number of additional permits for Ukraine has been decreasing every year. In particular, 10,000 permits were issued in 2019, and 9,700 in 2020. The situation became critical in 2021, when for the first time the Polish side did not issue any additional permits for Ukraine.
A similar problem existed with Romanian, Austrian, and Italian permits.
Moreover, in the context of a full-scale war and the blockade of Ukrainian ports, the volume of road exports and, as a result, the need for permits for international transportation in some areas has increased several times.
How does the Agreement with the EU solve this problem?
Further development of the road transport market required either a revision of existing international commitments to increase quotas or the conclusion of new ones that would allow the development of the industry.
In 2020, BRDO experts in the Green Paper “International Road Freight” have identified ways to address the lack of permits at the international and domestic levels.
In particular, according to our experts, at the international level this problem could be solved by:
The full text of the study can be found at regulation.gov.ua
A special Agreement on the liberalization of road transport between Ukraine and the EU will finally solve the above problems and allow the development of the road transport market. The document eliminates the need to obtain appropriate permits on a permanent basis and will avoid stopping the export of Ukrainian products through road checkpoints.
We expect to sign the document in late June.