Rozhenko O. V., Moiseieva F. A.

Donetsk national university of economics and trade named

after M. Tugan-Baranovsky, Donetsk.

economic SECURITY OF the transnational energy projects

Implementation of many transnational energy projects is optimal exactly in a trilateral mode, since it meets the underlying logic of the triple process chain of the energy sector operation: production - transportation - consumption. Russia, Ukraine and the EU present the geographic and economic links of such chain. However, joint implementation of energy projects in a trilateral format by the EU-Ukraine-Russia is dependent on at least three conditions: 1) existence of “rules of the game” agreed by all parties; 2) political will of the concerned parties with respect to project implementation and cooperation in a trilateral format; 3) repudiation from discriminatory approaches or economically unreasonable preferences at the expense of other participants’ interests.

The main problem now is presented by the absence of a framework for multilateral cooperation in the energy sector, i.e. common rules of the game. The legal procedure of natural gas transit via Ukraine existing on the corporate level, whereby Gazprom transfers gas to European buyers on Ukraine’s western border with the EU and bears responsibility for its transit via Ukraine before European buyers, continues the legal procedure of long-term Soviet contracts of gas delivery to European countries, which is an anachronism.

Legal correction of that situation requires alteration of the legal procedure of natural gas deliveries to the EU: European buyers should get gas from Gazprom at the Ukraine-Russia border; transit of Russian gas via Ukraine is to be performed on the basis of transportation contracts made between Naftohaz Ukrajiny and European buyers. Then, legal responsibility for natural gas transit via Ukraine in relations with European buyers will directly rest with Naftohaz Ukrajiny or UkrTransGaz, getting a fee for transit services from European buyers. Transition to such scheme requires cooperation in a trilateral format.

An effective mechanism enhancing the energy security on the European continent could be provided by declaration and implementation of the Energy Transparency Regime (ETR) intended to cover the entire process chain - from production to consumption of energy resources. That initiative should rest on the fundamental right to know. Consumers in all countries (Russia, Ukraine, the EU countries) have the right to know parameters of delivery of energy resources since they pay for them. Sectoral varieties of the regime are to cover the flow of energy resources - gas (ETR- gas), oil (ETR-oil), electric power (ETR-electricity).

Transparency of the “production - transportation - consumption” chain is actually intended to create an atmosphere of trust, and mutual access to telemetric information on the parameters of physical flow of energy resources could promote transparency. In the energy sector, and the gas segment in particular, this requires a special procedure, moreover that monopoly companies are engaged exactly in that sector. Such transparency system might provide a mechanism of diagnostics and warning of potential problems.

Proceeding from the above, it seems logical to create an online system to monitor telemetric data coming from the concerned gas metering stations, with the parties’ consent. The system would day and night record mutually agreed basic parameters dealing only with numeric indices of physical movement of gas flows. Commercial or financial indices are not on their list. Those parameters should be available to all parties to the “production - transportation - consumption” process chain (Russia - Ukraine - the EU). Comparison of the parameters will make it possible to identify bottlenecks along the entire route of gas flow from the well to the consumer and to spot those responsible in case of breach of the energy supply traffic.

Russia has got all possible preferences from Ukraine - contracts for delivery of fuel assemblies for Khmelnitsky NPP unit 2 and Rivne NPP unit 4 through 2034, two new power units of the Khmelnytskyi NPP will be constructed by a Russian contractor, an enterprise producing nuclear fuel will also (if any) be built by the Russian side. The Russian proposals in the nuclear sector are aimed at conservation of the status quo - monopoly of Russian companies and prevention of creation in Ukraine of NPPs and nuclear fuel production facilities using other than Russian technology. If proposals of the Japanese-US Westinghouse company concerning construction of a nuclear fuel fabrication plant were not aimed at complete exclusion of Ukraine’s cooperation with Russia, the Russian proposals clearly pursue Ukraine’s isolation from cooperation with the USA and the EU in the sector.

Probably the only project that may be interesting for all parties involves joint monitoring of the safety status at Russian-made nuclear reactors in the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the EU, joint environmental and technical expert examinations in case of extension of power units’ life. Ukraine should have put forward new initiatives in the field of Europe’s collective energy security resting on the following assumptions: every consumer should have an opportunity to use different sources of energy at different times; the structure of energy consumption should be determined on the basis of economic and environmental expediency; fuel and energy production should be decentralised, energy flows - disaggregated; in each region, reserves of fuel and energy supply should be created with account of the structure of energy consumption and different seasonal load, while preserving the state function of their management in an emergency situation.

Thus, we believe that the implementation of the mentioned proposals will minimize the threats in the energy sector and provide a high level of economy security both personality, enterprise, region and country, as the protection of the interests of all entities of the vital activities and creation of favorable conditions for their development.

Literature

1. Ukraine, Russia the EU – prospects of cooperation in the field of energy security (Interviews). //National security & defence 2010 № 6 (117). p. 64-72.

2. Економічна безпека та сталий розвиток: регіональний аспект [Текст]: монографія/ Донецьк. нац. ун-т економіки і торгівлі імені Михайла Туган-Барановського; В.В.Кузьменко. – Донецьк: ДонНУЕТ, 2008. – 145 с.