Head of SAEE Hanna Zamazieieva Participates in First Meeting of the Coordination Council on Agricultural Bioenergy Development
Hanna Zamazieieva, Head of the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine (SAEE), took part in the first meeting of the Coordination Council on the Development of Agricultural Bioenergy Potential, chaired by the Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine, Oleksii Sobolev.
During the meeting, the members of the Coordination Council were appointed, with Oleksii Sobolev elected as Chair. He outlined the Council’s main objectives.
“Developing bioenergy is critically important for our country. This is primarily about energy independence and security — not only for Ukraine but also for the EU in the future. It also creates opportunities to produce value-added products, particularly through economically efficient waste utilization. We also have significant potential to increase the production of renewable fuels,” Sobolev emphasized.
During her address, the Head of SAEE presented the agency’s position on several key issues discussed at the meeting:
Ensuring access for heat and electricity producers from alternative sources to firewood
“Due to limited supply and rapidly rising prices for this raw material, there are increasing cases of production stoppages at CHP plants and biomass boilers. The problem is that in Ukraine, timber is traded exclusively on organized exchanges, and energy producers face competition from other buyers — mainly foreign-capital woodworking companies producing particleboard (DSP) and MDF, who are currently willing to pay 2,500 UAH/m³ or more,” stated Hanna Zamazieieva.
SAEE supports the idea of creating specialized auctions on exchange platforms for selling firewood exclusively to licensed energy producers (licensed by NCRECP or regional administrations) and introducing quotas for State Forests of Ukraine to ensure sufficient timber supply.
However, Zamazieieva stressed that this initiative requires careful revision as it conflicts with EU legislation on the cascade principle for biomass use — prioritizing wood processing over energy use or disposal (Directive 2008/98/EC and RED III, (EU) 2023/2413).
It is also important to consider that EU legislation prohibits subsidies for electricity generation exclusively from forest biomass and requires forest biomass for energy purposes to meet sustainability criteria.
Regarding Draft Law No. 9597 on creating a registry of installations using biofuel as the sole fuel
Zamazieieva proposed revising the draft law to create a registry for all installations producing heat and/or electricity, excluding nuclear power plants and private households.
A unified registry would ensure transparent monitoring of fuel usage and CO₂ emissions and serve as the basis for providing benefits and incentives for using only sustainable biofuel.
Regarding Draft Law No. 9597 on a zero environmental tax rate for CO₂ emissions from installations using biofuel
“This issue requires further elaboration after the registry is established. It may be advisable to differentiate CO₂ tax reductions depending on the energy production technology. Any benefits should apply only to biofuel certified under sustainability criteria,” Zamazieieva noted.Regarding the creation of a Working Group on Ukraine–EU biomethane integration
SAEE fully supports the initiative. “We have already consulted with DG ENER on the technical and legal steps needed to integrate economic operators and the biomethane registry into the EU UDB platform and recognize Ukrainian guarantees of biomethane origin. This includes signing an agreement and establishing data exchange,” reported Zamazieieva.
She proposed that the Working Group initiate negotiations to develop a step-by-step roadmap for mutual recognition of biomethane guarantees of origin and for integrating the Ukrainian biomethane registry into UDB.
“In our view, to include Ukrainian biomethane in EU member state quotas, Ukrainian guarantees of origin must be recognized by the EU according to RED III, (EU) 2023/2413,” she emphasized.
SAEE also supports submitting a request to the European Commission for clarification on recognizing the Ukrainian gas network as an “interconnected gas system” with a unified mass balance system, which will become one of the Working Group’s tasks.
During the meeting, participants focused on:
Access to firewood for heat and electricity producers;
Abolition of the carbon emissions tax for installations using biofuel as the sole fuel;
Export of Ukrainian biomethane to the EU.
Key next steps and priorities for the Coordination Council on biofuel were agreed upon at the meeting.
Background:
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine established the Coordination Council on the Development of Agricultural Bioenergy Potential by Resolution No. 949 on 6 July 2025. The new body will coordinate efforts of government, business, and experts, aiming to develop the sector and optimize decision-making processes.
