03.06.2025
Valerii Bezus, Vice President of Energy Club, and Head of the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine (2021-2023), will discuss the fundamentals of Government Relations (GR) in the energy sector as part of the new training course “Communications and Interaction in Energy: Strategies for PR, Marketing, GR and Lobbying in Ukraine.”
The author’s lecture is based on the speaker’s significant experience working in various structures and will provide an understanding of how communication between business and state authorities should contribute to increasing the efficiency of energy markets.
– Valerii Oleksandrovych, is the lecture on the fundamentals of GR in the energy sector your original work? What is its basis (experience in which structures)?
– Energy is a rather specific sector of the economy. On the one hand, it is a fundamental branch for economic development; on the other, it is historically and objectively monopolized. This largely dictates the operating conditions of the industry and its very high dependence on the regulatory field, and on the position and activities of state regulatory bodies.
Unlike many other economic sectors, energy not only has its own specialized ministry that directly shapes state policy, and not even just several central executive bodies that directly implement certain aspects of such policy together with the ministry, but also a specific institution – the National Regulator, the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission (NEURC). Add to this list the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Antimonopoly Committee, and other bodies, and it becomes clear that the challenges of effective interaction with all these state institutions are very complex.
Moreover, depending on the specifics of a particular sector of the industry, energy companies must effectively interact not only with state authorities but also with local or regional self-government bodies. And this presents an even greater challenge regarding the quality of stakeholder management and GR.
Given my experience, I have the opportunity to assess the relationship between business and the public sector from various perspectives. I have worked in top management of companies and have experience in representing interests; I worked as a deputy head of a regional council and was responsible for relations with energy companies; I was a member of public councils at NEURC and the Ministry of Energy; I headed one of the central executive bodies responsible for implementing certain aspects of state policy in the energy sector; I was an advisor to a Deputy Prime Minister, a member of several advisory bodies at various government authorities and state institutions, including the National Security and Defense Council, and so on. I hope my experience and knowledge will be useful to the course participants. And for me, it is extremely interesting to receive feedback, questions, and perhaps even comments that could become a reason for further self-development.
– Why is this important today? What specifics of communication and with which structures will your presentation be dedicated to?
– The state of the energy industry is dynamically changing, following the logic of reforms. And this dynamic will intensify. With the introduction of the European governance model in the energy sector, increasing attention is being paid to the inclusivity of decision-making regarding the development of the legislative field and energy market rules. The key role here is assigned to the National Regulator, which must continuously increase its independence from political influence, while at the same time becoming more sensitive to signals from the markets and their participants.
Equally important is the participation of all stakeholders in national energy markets in processes related to integration into pan-European energy markets, as well as the direct development of European energy markets, which occurs under the influence of feedback. Ideally, such feedback should also include signals from Ukrainian energy businesses.
Concurrently, processes of adapting Ukraine’s legal and regulatory framework and the organic development of European energy law are taking place. Both these processes should occur in the interests of increasing the efficiency of energy markets, developing competition, and business opportunities. Effective communication between business and state authorities must work towards these interests. On the other hand, without such systemic and effective communication, one cannot expect positive results. It is much more productive to invest in the development of this approach, rather than become the guardians of ineffective decisions and waste time and resources on inducing correction. Unfortunately, in Ukraine, we have extensive experience of making poor-quality public decisions followed by efforts to correct them after they have been adopted. The losses from such decisions, both for the energy sector and the economy as a whole, are colossal.
– Will there be practical case studies, links to useful information, and additional materials?
– Energy Club differs from the academic environment and traditional courses regularly implemented by donor projects precisely because of the very focused practical orientation of our events.
We involve a wide range of experts in our courses, who sometimes have different views on the subject, and this stimulates not only the acquisition of knowledge but also active discussion on controversial issues. Moreover, we are very flexible in presenting educational material and discuss the most current issues, as we are not dependent on formal processes for developing and approving curricula.
It is important to emphasize that we are not trying to create an alternative to academic education, but we focus specifically on practical aspects and the relevance of the material.
– Who will benefit from the information you share – local government bodies, businesses, company executives?
– The key audience is precisely business, which needs to learn how to build civilized and effective communication with government and self-government bodies. In fact, it is important to clearly understand that not only the success of individual businesses depends on such effectiveness, but also the quality of the state’s economic development as a whole.
On the other hand, for the public sector, both state authorities and, even more so, local self-government bodies, the effectiveness of working with business sector stakeholders is also extremely important. As I have already pointed out, the quality of public decisions, the quality of development of individual communities, regions, and the entire state, directly depends on the quality of communication with business. Therefore, I am confident that our perspective on effective GR will also be extremely useful for representatives of the public sector.
The online training course “Communications and Interaction in Energy: Strategies for PR, Marketing, GR and Lobbying in Ukraine” starts in June. It is designed for specialists in PR, marketing, GR, and lobbying who work in Energy Club member companies, aiming to enhance participants’ professional competence by providing knowledge and tools for effective work in Ukraine’s dynamic energy sector. The implementation of the course will strengthen companies’ communication capabilities, contribute to their competitiveness, and support the sustainable development of Ukraine’s energy sector.
