Study Resource Efficiency Gains and Green Growth Perspectives in Ukraine Andriy Martyniuk| Yulia Ogarenko September 2012 n Ukraine is one of the most energy-intensive countries in Europe. In addition, the car­bon intensity is critically high due to gas, coal and oil being the predominant energy sources. Ukraine is counted among the top twenty countries with the highest CO 2 emissions worldwide. Although it does not have a low-carbon economic develop­ment strategy and refuses to take on any restrictive obligations to reduce emissions, Ukraine is signatory party to the Kyoto Protocol. n The issue of green economy is reflected in many national documents. However, there is no comprehensive political strategy and only about 30 per cent of the planned actions have been implemented. The most important positive example is the launch of a green tariff. There has been national and international criticism because the ob­ligation to perform environmental reviews of projects in a number of areas was sig­nificantly simplified or eliminated in the Ukraine. Although it has joined the Energy Community, the EU influence on legislative measures is only given in financial terms. n Ukraine’s most promising sectors for green growth are: building,(organic) agricul­ture and renewable energies. It has a potential to develop green technologies, but governmental support and a favourable investment climate are still lacking. The main obstacles for a transition to green growth are the government’s intervention in energy pricing(direct and indirect subsidies), a strong lobby for traditional energy, lack of funding, and most importantly corruption.