Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Kistion presented for the business circles of Scandinavia, who gathered in Oslo at the Ukrainian-Norwegian business forum, the advantages and potential of Ukrainian energy sector.

"Ukraine and Norway are united through great energy potential. On the volumes of explored gas reserves, we rank third in Europe after Norway and the Netherlands", said in his statement Volodymyr Kistion.

According to him, during the last three years, the Government in synergy with the Parliament, has worked hard to improve the business climate and today Ukraine offers investors the following advantages:

• one of the best stimulating rental rates in Europe,

• a five-year moratorium on changing tax regime for gas producers;

• transparent international online auctions and contests for obtaining permits for the use of subsoil, including on the terms of production sharing agreements (PSA);

• simple regulatory procedures for access to land for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons;

• open access to geological information.

Volodymyr Kistion put an emphasis on the possibilities and unique advantages of the Ukrainian gas transit system.

"Ukraine is now struggling for the future of its gas transit system. To destroy it there was designed politically motivated project Nord Stream 2", said Deputy Prime Minister.

Volodymyr Kistion added that the Ukrainian gas transit infrastructure as part of a high-performance pipeline and underground gas storage facilities is capable to provide:

•  transit from the Russian Federation to the EU in the amount of up to 150 billion cubic meters;
• seasonal storage of gas mainly on the Ukraine-EU border in the amount of up to 30 billion cubic meters;
• any needs of gas producers and consumers on the domestic market.

Volodymyr Kistion also welcomed the decision of the Norwegian company NBT this year to implement a large-scale investment project in southern Ukraine - 70 wind power installations with a total capacity of 250 MW.

"This is a powerful message to the global investment community about trust in Ukraine, about the unique possibilities for implementing green energy projects in our country", the official said.

The adopted laws in Ukraine "On the Electricity Market", "On Electricity" and "On Alternative Energy Sources" enshrined a guaranteed level of the green tariff for electricity from renewable energy sources and a commitment to repurchase the total amount of green energy released into the united energy system of Ukraine. And the highest level of green tariffs in Europe contributed to the very rapid development of renewable energy in Ukraine. Only in 2018 there was put into operation 742.5 MW of generating capacity, which exceeds 2.8 times the capacity put into operation during 2017.

"Soon, the projects on the construction of renewable energy facilities will receive state support in the form of a guaranteed buy-out by the state of all electricity produced. This will give a new impetus to the development of green energy for the growth of foreign investment", summed up the Deputy Prime Minister.