Ukraine: draft Track 1 procedure for JI projects

A draft instruction on the National Procedure for Joint Implementation Projects has been produced by the National Environmental Investments Agency (NEIA) and made available for comment on its website.

JI Projects allow countries to earn emission reduction units (ERUs) which count towards their Kyoto Protocol commitments by participating in projects in another signatory country, while the host country benefits from foreign investment and technology transfer.

The draft instruction:

• allows JI projects to include those indirectly aimed at reducing emissions, such as such as energy efficiency projects
• provides the project owner with an option to proceed with drafting of the Project Design Documentation and obtaining a determination report without a letter of endorsement from NEIA. In this case project owner, however, will be required to obtain the determination report with an entity accredited by JISC
• enables project owners who obtained letters of approval under the Track 2 procedure to switch to the Track 1 procedure
• confirms the right of project owners to deposit and reserve Assigned Amount Units for further post-Kyoto periods starting from 2013
• enables project owners to enter into an agreement with NEIA to open an additional account in the National Registry with the special management regime and/or for the transfer of ERUs to third parties
• allows NEIA to cancel the Ukrainian registration of a JI project (and bring the project to an end internationally) because of fraud, suspension of the project or its owner’s activities, violations of the project timeline, substantial non-compliance with approved project documentation and investment indices, loss of management over or rights to the project, failure to submit yearly monitoring and verification reports or legislative changes that would make JI Track 1 projects impossible to implement in Ukraine