On Tuesday, July 19, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman and Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of the Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič have agreed the European Union will support the development of energy efficiency in Ukraine. The meeting took place in the framework of a working visit of the Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman to Brussels.

Volodymyr Groysman informed his interlocutor that the Government had recently approved the concept of establishing of the Energy Efficiency Fund, "which should be a good tool to promote energy efficiency".

In turn, the Vice-President of the European Commission for Energy Union announced the EU would possibly provide assistance in filling the Fund.

He noted that the EU would consider a possibility of providing support to the Energy Efficiency Fund in the amount of EUR 100 million at the account of both the budget of the European Union and contributions from its member countries.

During the meeting, Volodymyr Groysman informed the party about reforms pursued by the Government, in particular in the energy sector. Inter alia, the Cabinet of Ministers fixed the market price for gas, formed a Supervisory Board of the NJSC Naftogaz Ukrayiny, approved an unbundling plan of the company and a strategy of hydropower development, which, according to him, has great potential in Ukraine.

He also expressed confidence that in September the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine would adopt the elaborated jointly with the European Union laws concerning a national regulator and the electricity market.

Vice-President of the European Commission for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič welcomed the Government's actions to reform the energy sector, in particular the steps taken in hydropower area.

Apart from that, the sides discussed the support of the EU aimed at preventing Russia from use of the energy domain as a political weapon, especially in the context of Nord Stream-2 project.

Among the topics of the conversation of the Prime Minister and Vice-President of the European Commission for Energy Union was also the use of spare facilities to transport Caspian oil to Europe via the southern segment of the Druzhba pipeline.