Its standards: the EU will spend € 3 million to work with the coal sector in Ukraine and the Western Balkans

The EU intends to spend € 3 million to work with the “coal regions” in the Western Balkans and Ukraine. This is stated in a tender placed by the European Commission.

Thus, contractors are required to organize the work of the secretariat in providing logistical support for the implementation of the five components.

The EC’s first goal is to create an open area that allows dialogue at the regional level and provides a space for the exchange of experience, knowledge and best practices on issues related to the phase-out of coal as an energy source between coal regions in the Western Balkans and the Ukraine. European industry representatives will also share their experience.

According to the document, “a coal region in the Western Balkans and Ukraine” will be determined based on regional or municipal administrative-territorial divisions and taking into account current coal mining activities (underground or open pit) and, possibly, its use for energy purposes, for example, work of power plants and district heat supply systems.

In addition, the EC plans to provide technical assistance in the form of expert support to "a limited number of pilot regions in the Western Balkans and Ukraine to develop transition roadmaps for use and implementation by relevant government agencies."

One of the objectives of the project is also to help these regions in obtaining funding from the World Bank, the EC and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to transform the coal industry in these countries.

The work of contractors will include the creation of a database of stakeholders in these countries, namely representatives of national and local authorities, NGOs, civil society organizations and various experts, and the preparation of events. The project will be implemented in Ukraine, as well as in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia and Serbia.

At the same time, according to Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of Russia, a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund, Ukraine itself does not have the necessary financial resources to modernize the coal industry.

“First, we need to give work to people who worked in coal mines and fields. Secondly, it is necessary to build a large number of generating stations that will provide electricity, which is quite difficult to do in Ukraine. On the one hand, now there is coal generation, on the other, nuclear power plants, which Europeans will most likely insist on closing. In addition, there is gas generation, which, according to the EU, is also undesirable to take, because all the gas that Ukraine consumes is received from Russia. And it turns out, wherever you spit - everything must be closed. Europeans do not like coal, the atom is aging, and gas comes from Russia. What, in fact, Ukraine live on? At the same time, renewable energy sources remain a very expensive pleasure, ”said the expert.

“Trying for yourself”

According to the document, this project should involve these countries in the European Green Course. This strategy, adopted in 2019, implies that by 2050, Europe will become climate neutral and move to a low-carbon economy.

The project description emphasizes that this strategy cannot be fully implemented without the involvement of Ukraine and the Western Balkan states, not only due to emissions that affect the EU countries, but also to achieve another goal of the European green course - to achieve a “fair transition” and maintain for the EU, the role of the world leader in energy and climate, for which it is necessary to "expand the scope of cooperation."

In this regard, “the reduction of jobs in the coal industry in the European Union, while maintaining them in the Western Balkans and Ukraine, is fraught with the fact that within the EU public support for the very idea of ​​transition will weaken, and the level of confidence in the activities of governments on climate issues will decrease” and at the same time, the gap on energy and climate between the EU and its neighbors will widen.

However, in this case, the European Union does not take into account the interests of the population of these countries, but considers them as a resource base, putting its order in the coal sector. Such an opinion in an interview with RT was expressed by Ukrainian political scientist and economist Alexander Dudchak.

“The word“ support ”is not entirely appropriate in this case. They simply reformat the legislation of Eastern European countries and those states that are not members of the European Union, according to their needs. And this is not done in the interests of these countries, ”the expert emphasized.

According to Yushkov, it is obvious that the EU, by financing such projects, is ultimately trying for itself.

“On the one hand, this is part of the integration program: if you want to go to Europe, close your wrong energy. On the other hand, this is also explained by the pan-European agenda on the need to preserve the climate and develop green technologies. In addition, it is also the promotion of its equipment. Many types of equipment necessary for the development of renewable energy sources are produced either in Europe or by European companies. Therefore, these countries can also act in the future as sales markets, ”he said.

• Ethnic Albanian work at an open coal mine in the town of Obilic
• AFP
• © Ermal Meta

Possible socio-economic consequences

As Andrei Suzdaltsev, deputy dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at the HSE, noted in an interview with RT, this decision will have grave socio-economic consequences for all of these countries.

“Naturally, completely unaware of how much coal generation in Ukraine gives, they will extend the same measures to Ukraine. I do not focus on how Ukraine can survive without coal - this remains incomprehensible. Is it on time, does Ukraine need it now? This does not bother anyone. It will be very difficult for both Ukraine and the Western Balkans to abandon coal. But Europe will push through these measures, ”the expert emphasized.

The likelihood of socio-economic consequences of such a transition is also mentioned in the documents of the European Commission. According to the project description, the issue of serious concern in Ukraine remains the possible socio-economic consequences of such a transition, since a large part of the country's workforce is still employed in the coal industry, despite the lengthy restructuring process since the early 1990s, which led to to a massive loss of jobs and demanded substantial subsidies from the state budget.

In addition, today coal provides 39% of electricity supply in Ukraine, however, the country's government has already announced its readiness to participate in the European Green Course and plans to achieve climate neutrality by 2070.

However, in the framework of the memorandum on strategic energy partnership, as emphasized in the European Commission, the EU and Kiev decided to jointly reform the coal industry in Ukraine.

The situation is similar in the Western Balkans. According to the document, almost the entire energy and economic system of the Western Balkans, with the exception of mainly relying on the hydropower of Albania, depends on the extraction and consumption of coal. Thus, coal-fired power plants provide 100% of the power supply in Kosovo, 70% in Serbia and 54% in Montenegro. This dependence is dictated by the fact that the region has vast coal reserves, and the coal sector itself is heavily subsidized by the state.

The document notes that the Western Balkan states, as candidates or potential candidates for EU accession, must adhere to European principles and strategic priorities, including the European Green Course and the Paris Agreement.