On November 12th, a closing event was held to wrap up the project “Digitization of the Central Heating Sector of Ukraine,” which was funded by the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Ukraine from Development Cooperation Program.
Since launching the project in June, BALTPOOL has hosted 3 practical workshops designed to share the best practices learned by establishing a biomass exchange in Lithuania. The workshop was organized with the cooperation of BALTPOOL’s project partner in Ukraine – the Bioenergy Association of Ukraine (UABIO).
The goal of the project was to share long-term experience and expertise in digitizing the biomass market in Lithuania. The Lithuanian biomass and heat market was reviewed and presented in detail during the project, including its regulatory aspects and the concept of a fair and transparent biomass exchange. The draft law of Ukraine, which regulates trade in biomass products, was also reviewed and discussed, with a focus on the nuances of the Ukrainian biomass market and its market participants.
“The project helped to assess the compliance of the Ukrainian Draft Law on the introduction of a biomass exchange with a European approach. We’re trying to build a transparent biomass market following the example of the Baltic countries. This project provided valuable suggestions on how to improve the Draft Law based on the long-term experience of the functioning of BALTPOOL,” says Vitalii Zubenko, PhD, Expert of Bioenergy Association of Ukraine (UABIO).
Participants of the Ukrainian Exchange were able to take a hands-on approach throughout the project, testing the BALTPOOL biomass trading platform in real-time and participating in working sessions with the Head of BALTPOOL’s Trade Department Vaidotas Jonutis.
Meetings were attended by more than 100 Ukrainian biomass sector participants from various Ukrainian heat supply companies, as well as representatives of authorities from the Rada of Ukraine, the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Energy Exchange, and the Bioenergy Association of Ukraine. According to BALTPOOL’s experts, the Ukrainian market has a lot of potential to successfully develop a thriving digital biomass exchange.
“With the adoption of the relevant laws regulating the biomass sector, Ukraine has all opportunities to conduct transparent trade in biomass and create a biomass exchange in the same manner as Lithuania. We hope that our experience and insights shared during the project will help Ukraine to manage its biomass market more efficiently and digitize it faster,” says Andrius Smaliukas, CEO of BALTPOOL.
Speaker’s presentations:
- Overview of the biomass market in Ukraine | Georgii Geletukha, Head of the Board, Bioenergy Association of Ukraine (UABIO) (in Ukrainian);
- Project overview: main insights from the project and recommendations for Ukraine’s bioenergy market | Vaidotas Jonutis, Head of Trade unit at BALTPOOL.