20.10.2025
On September 25, the Energy Club forum “Resilience and Transformation: Balancing Ukraine’s Energy System in a New Reality” took place in Kyiv. During the panel discussion “Resilience Under Attack: Operational Challenges and Realities of the Ukrainian Energy System,” Valerii Bezus, Vice President of Energy Club and Head of the State Agency on Energy Efficiency (2021-2023), delivered a deep, systemic analysis of the state of Ukraine’s energy sector. His speech focused on the need for transparency, the involvement of business in policy formation, and a genuine assessment of public energy management in the context of post-war recovery.
He emphasized that the energy system cannot exist without a clear vision from the state, as the market, even a reformed one, does not function on its own. Effective public management must be the core that unites political decisions, strategic priorities, and the operational actions of business.
Valerii Bezus outlined the main dilemma: Ukraine lives in a dual reality—on one hand, market reforms, and on the other, chaotic or non-transparent public management: “We live by the rules we adopt from the European Union as part of the European integration process. But it is important that these norms of public management are not a parallel world that does not intersect with the reality of our lives.”
He stressed that without effective public management, even the best market reforms do not work. In crisis conditions, 90% of positive results are achieved through self-organization at various levels of the public and private sectors, but this cannot replace a systemic institutional approach.
Valerii Bezus drew attention to the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) until 2030, which was developed to meet EU requirements but must become the key benchmark for the development of Ukrainian energy.
Valerii Bezus explained that the NECP is the document that synchronizes Ukrainian policy with European policy, has its own logic for updates and approvals, and will determine the real direction of energy development for the coming years.
However, most market participants either do not know about it or do not take it into account in their activities. “I am convinced that every business must see itself in this document. The National Plan includes two development scenarios, and it is this plan that will define the framework in which the energy sector will operate. In EU countries, every company builds its strategies based on these documents—we must learn to do the same,” the expert noted.
He called on the energy business to actively interact with public management bodies to be included in policy-making processes, rather than just reacting to decisions already made.
Moving to the technical aspect, Valerii Bezus stressed that the future of Ukrainian energy lies in integrated systems, demand-side management, and energy storage technologies: “The future belongs to demand-side management systems. Energy storage units are also a component of them. But, if there is no sustainable generation, no management or storage systems will make sense. Indeed, integration at all levels—this will be the leitmotif of future energy systems.”
The speaker highlighted the potential of distributed generation: hundreds of megawatts of capacity, installed in businesses and households, can be integrated into the overall system with effective demand-side management and flexible technological solutions.
Another aspect the expert emphasized was the need to create conditions for price arbitrage in the energy markets. The idea is that the market must be sufficiently flexible, open, and digital for participants to effectively manage energy production and consumption based on price.
“In an ideal situation, this should be real-time price arbitrage. Both the consumer and the generator must understand that the market is always open, and technology allows for a flexible response. Today, even artificial intelligence can be an agent that plays in this market for the benefit of the producer or consumer,” said Valerii Bezus.
In his opinion, the demand for such changes must come from the business side. This should not be an imitation of European integration merely for the formal fulfillment of agreements.
At the end of his speech, Valerii Bezus commented on the issue of regional energy passports, which are being developed at the level of regional administrations: “Unfortunately, these passports do not yet have any reflection in the National Energy and Climate Plan. When we started this work in the winter of 2022–2023, the idea had great potential. But due to the lack of connection between the national policy line and the local level, it risks turning into a formality.”
The former head of the State Agency on Energy Efficiency noted that the passportization initiative could have become a powerful tool for developing distributed generation, but its development potential has not yet been realized due to a lack of a systemic approach.
Valerii Bezus concluded his speech with a call for the energy business to take an active part in policy formation, to work with public management documents, particularly the National Energy and Climate Plan, and to see their own role and prospects within them: “We must learn to discuss the parameters of energy system development, influence public management, and ensure that the interests of energy business development are reflected in these plans. This is the key to real development and the post-war reconstruction of the energy sector.”
Valerii Bezus’s speech at the Energy Club forum was one of the most profound systemic analyses of the state of Ukrainian energy.
His message is a call for synchronizing state policy with business reality, for the transparency of strategic documents, for the development of integrated energy systems, and for the creation of conditions for a true market.
It is these steps, he believes, that will make Ukraine’s energy sector not only resilient but also competitive in the European space.
