On 26 July Natalia Boyko Deputy Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine on European Integration had a working meeting with Acting Chairman of the Representational Office in Ukraine of the United States Department of Energy Scott Shrum.

Natalia Boyko emphasized that Ukraine highly appreciates the support of the United States on the reforms path, inter alia in the energy sector. «We have a broad energy agenda regarding relations with the United States. Ukraine praises the readiness of the U.S. to be a partner in building a competitive and transparent Ukrainian energy sector», the Deputy Minister stressed.

She briefed the US side on the progress achieved in the context of energy sector reform, as well as on steps towards harmonization of energy legislation in line with the EU norms.

Apart from that, Natalia Boyko put a special emphasis to the fact that one of the key priorities of the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry is aimed to create a favorable investment climate as well as to ensure clear and transparent rules of the game. «Energy is the basic industry, hence the Ministry is consistently engaged in activities designed to enhance investment interest of our Western partners due to the stability and transparency of the legal rules in the said sector», the Deputy Minister asserted.

According to the Deputy Minister, Ukraine focuses on the development of the domestic mining industry as well as on the launch of leading world hydrocarbon production technologies with the involvement of foreign investors. «There is a positive dynamic in natural gas production, which is an important issue of energy security of the country. Thereby, the sector has a burning need to use the latest technologies, which will allow the ensure growth of indicators in the long term, in this context we are very much counting on the U.S. side», the representative of the Ministry claimed.

The parties touched upon the state of implementation of joint projects in the nuclear industry, in particular projects for diversifying nuclear fuel supplies for Ukrainian nuclear power plants as well as tackled issues on deepening cooperation concerning the introduction of modern practices on ensuring security for critical infrastructure objects. In particular, the issue of involving experts was discussed in order to develop a plan for ensuring the stability of the energy system. "The existence of such a tool as the Plan designed to ensure the stability of Ukraine's electric power system will further improve the energy system and will serve as a basis for joint discussion of energy security experts from our countries», underscored the Deputy Minister.