PM tilts at energy regulator's decision when introducing RAB regulation
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has tiled at the National Commission for Energy, Housing and Utilities Services Regulation (NCER) for decisions made as part of the introduction of Regulatory Asset Base (RAB) regulation.
"The so-called RAB tariff, which was recently introduced by the NCER, is not backed and cannot be backed by the Ukrainian government. I as prime minister do not support this approach and I know the position of colleague ministers. We believe that it is biased, unfair and not in line with the transparency conditions. It could result in extra spending by citizens when they pay for electricity," he said at a government meeting on Wednesday.
He instructed Deputy Prime Minister Stepan Kubiv and Energy and Coal Industry Minister Ihor Nasalyk to organize the discussion of decisions of the commission for RAB regulation.
"Our position is that the NCER presents all calculations and they are discussed with experts. We want to prove [the commission] that the scheme they are introducing cannot work. We should take unbiased and forward-looking, not doubtful decisions," Groysman said.
NCER Head Dmytro Vovk believes that the decisions made for RAB regulation are thoughtful and forward-looking. They suit the coalition agreement and the government's action plan.
He said that RAB regulation applies almost in each European country. It allows attracting investment into deteriorated power lines and increasing the quality of servicing. The regulator head said that the fair evaluation of the regulatory base of companies' assets, pegging to Weighted Average Capital Cost (WACC) is extremely important and not "doubtful decisions with different rates of return."