OREANDA-NEWS. November 08, 2010. The latest in the series of the Energy Round Tables devoted to relations between the European Union and Ukraine took place in Brussels. The organiser of the Energy Round Tables during 2010 was the EU Ukraine Business Council supported by DTEK, the leader of Ukrainian fuel and energy sector.
 
The key topic of the concluding Round Table held in the premises of the European Parliament was Ukraine’s accession to the Energy Community. Slavtcho Neykov, the Director of the Energy Community Secretariat (Vienna), Aleksandr Tolkach, DTEK’s Director for External Affairs, and Viacheslav Kniazhnytskiy, Ambassador-at-Large for Energy Security, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the representatives of the European Commission and some expert bodies were among the speakers at the Round Table. Pawel Kowal, Member of the European Parliament (EP) and the Head of the EP  Inter-Parliamentary Delegation for Ukraine, introduced the topic of the meeting. 
 
Jeffery Piper, Head of International Relations with DG Energy of the European Commission, said: ‘We welcome Ukraine’s signature of the Protocol of Accession to the Energy Community, which is the latest important milestone in the energy co-operation between the EU and Ukraine and will play a significant role in providing energy security of our continent. It is important now that Ukraine moves ahead rapidly with the ratification process to become a full member of the Energy Community.’ He underlined a considerable scope of work to be conducted to implement the commitments undertaken by Ukraine within the deadlines established.

In his speech, Aleksandr Tolkach emphasized that the successful implementation of the 2010-2014 Presidential Reforms Plan in the field of energy is a key condition for Ukraine to become a full-fledged member of the Energy Community and to realize its significant economic potential both for the energy sector and the country as a whole. ‘The task of reforming the market model is especially important to make our energy sector more attractive for investors’, said Mr Tolkach.