ENERGY EFFICIENCY DEVELOPMENTS: bylaws and more

Drop-outs: certain buildings do not need to be compliant

On 11 April 2018, Ukraine’s government approved a list of buildings that are not subject to minimum energy efficiency requirements and energy efficiency certification. The list includes industrial and agricultural buildings, energy objects, transport, communication and defence buildings, warehouses etc. –

In accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On the Energy Efficiency of Buildings” No. 2118-VIII from 22 June 2017, buildings that are being put into operation must meet at least the minimum energy efficiency requirements, except when such buildings are not subject to certification. The majority of provisions of the said law will enter into force on 23 July 2018, while the provisions on mandatory certification and some other requirements enter into in force on 1 July 2019.

Financial support for energy efficiency: the Energy Efficiency Fund keeps developing

For the partial reimbursement of energy efficiency measures for buildings and the provision of other support for energy efficiency initiatives, the Government has established a special fund financed from the state budget and donors.

In April 2018, Ukraine signed two agreements with its international partners for the provision of irrevocable financing for the Energy Efficiency Fund’s projects (EUR 50 million) and for the creation of a special co-financing fund. It is expected that Ukraine`s Energy Efficiency Fund will be fully operational closer to the third quarter of 2018.

Strategic ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: environmental impact to be assessed in context

On 10 April 2018, the president of Ukraine signed the law “On Strategic Environmental Assessment” No. 2354-VIII of 20 March 2018 (“the Law”). The Law will enter into force on 12 October 2018.

In contrast with an environmental impact assessment (“EIA”) where private companies or individuals are in charge of the assessment, a strategic environmental assessment (“SEA”) can be requested by the public authorities and local authorities that will bear the expenses.

While an EIA is conducted on a project-by-project basis, a SEA would be carried out for larger-scale state planning documents (“PPPs”), provided the PPPs are within the scope of the Law.

The list of PPPs requiring an SEA is non-exclusive; it includes (i) strategies, (ii) schemes, (iii) plans, (iv) urban planning documentation, (v) national programs, (vi) state target programs and (vii) other programs and program documents, (viii) changes to the above-mentioned PPPs, which are developed or approved by a public or local authority.

A strategic environmental assessment will be mandatory for PPPs concerning various fields, such as:

  • agriculture,
  • forestry,
  • fisheries,
  • power generation,
  • industry,
  • transport,
  • waste management,
  • use of water resources,
  • environmental protection,
  • telecommunications,
  • tourism,
  • urban planning or land management (schemes),

and if the PPP under consideration meets one of the following criteria:

  • the implementation of the PPP will involve the implementation of activities for which an EIA is compulsory, or
  • the assessment is required taking into account the likely consequences for territories with conservation status (except for the creation or expansion of territories and objects of the nature reserve fund).

The requirement for conducting a SEA has a few exceptions: the scope of the Law does not apply to PPPs concerning exclusively national defence or emergency action, budgets, budget programs and financial plans. By 1 January 2020, SEAs are voluntary for the short-term (up to a year) programs of economic and social development at regional or local scales.

For a full launch of SEAs from 12 October 2018, the government needs to adopt a few by-laws, such as rules on monitoring and the procedure for conducting public hearings of local-level urban planning documentation.

TRANSPARENCY: the State Geological Map ‘Geomap-200’ was launched

The Derzhgeonadra (State Service on Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine) has granted free access to the State Geological Map of Ukraine (scale 1:200,000) with geological data for 1991-2005. The data of the geological map is in Ukrainian and partially in English, and is available for downloading.

In 2017 another map, The Mineral Resources of Ukraine was launched. This map contains information about 20 thousand deposits and 117 types of minerals.