INTEGRITES became partner of the Ukrainian Bar Association’s I Investment Forum

INTEGRITES became partner of the I Investment Forum, which took place on June 6-7, 2024 and brought together more than 300 representatives of private business and foreign investors, legal services and public sectors. The goal of the Forum was to analyse the investment climate in Ukraine, focusing on the key sectors during the country's recovery – agriculture, mining and extraction, energy and defense. It also aimed to identify legal obstacles to foreign investment and to present possible solutions.

INTEGRITES Managing Partner, Dr. Oleksiy Feliv, moderated the panel discussion "Challenges and Opportunities in the Energy Sector" held offline in Kyiv on June 7. The participants were Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, Chairman of the Management Board of NPC Ukrenergo, Olga Kovalchuk, Head of Finance and Investment at Goldbeck Solar, Oleksandr Podprugin, Country Manager Ukraine at Notus Energy, and Yaroslav Kryl, CEO of Hydrogen Ukraine LLC.

Volodymyr Kudrytskyi emphasized the importance of transition from traditional to green generation in the context of intense Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. In his opinion, the state should "finalise a set of regulatory packages and contracts and clearly define the rules for credit financing", as well as refrain from additional regulation of the industry during the war.

Olga Kovalchuk from Goldbeck Solar (Germany) shared the company's international experience and suggested that the Ukrainian legislation on state support for large investment projects should be amended to cover renewable energy generation projects.

Oleksandr Podprugin from Notus Energy, a German developer of power plants, outlined two key obstacles to the scalable implementation of investment projects in Ukraine: the lack of long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) and CAPEX indicators which are currently much higher for Ukraine compared to other countries.

At the same time, Mr. Podprugin mentioned, companies are ready to invest, but solving investment issues requires intensive work with international financial institutions.

Yaroslav Kryl from Hydrogen Ukraine believes that the exploration of hydrogen and salt deposits in Ukraine's subsoil appears promising. He emphasized the need to create separate ecosystems for the development of hydrogen projects and shared his experience in attracting grants and acting in consortia with international institutions.

"Unfortunately, it’s the full-scale war that pushes Ukraine towards major leaps in technology, but the Build Back Better principle, which the country, together with investors, should implement into all reconstruction projects, including the energy sector, will pave the way for Ukraine's successful future", Dr. Feliv commented to summarise the session.