Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture reduces regulations and introduces incentives for the development of distributed generation in the regions: Oleksii Sobolev

The situation in the energy sector and preparations for the next heating season were the key topics at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine, which took place on 9 April in Uzhhorod.

The Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine, Oleksii Sobolev, took part in the thematic session “Dialogue between Communities and the Government”, chaired by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

During the discussion, participants examined the implementation of comprehensive resilience plans for regions and cities, where coordination between the Government and local authorities plays an important role, as well as issues of concern to mayors and community leaders.

As part of preparations for the heating season, the Government is already working in four main areas: protection of energy facilities, development of distributed generation, ensuring autonomous power supply for water supply and sewage systems, and decentralisation of heat supply.

“The Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture is responsible for stimulating the development of distributed generation and increasing energy independence, particularly in the regions and for local businesses. To achieve this, we are reducing regulations to enable the faster launch of necessary initiatives. These include simplified grid connections, optimisation of permits, and accelerated review of projects on the Pulse platform. At the same time, we are introducing incentives: 0% loans for generation units, a programme to compensate for war risks, and affordable energy loans under the 5-7-9 programme,” noted Oleksii Sobolev.

Minister Oleksii Sobolev and Deputy Minister Taras Vysotskyi also spoke with representatives of local communities and answered their questions. Among the main topics were the implementation of investment projects on the ground, compensation related to the construction of fortifications, improvement of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure, and payment of compensation per hectare of cultivated land for farmers in frontline regions.