From Research to Regulatory Change: Ukraine and Sweden Present Joint Collaboration Results
On 28 May in Kyiv, the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Green Transition Office at the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine held an event on Swedish-Ukrainian cooperation for the green transition — connecting research, policy and practice. Sida and the Swedish Energy Agency supported it.
Deputy Minister Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi opened with a point that set the tone for the whole day: Ukraine cannot rebuild on old models. If it does, it risks arriving at EU accession with an economy that already does not fit.
"Our task is to build an economy resilient to future crises and integrated into EU climate policy. Our Swedish partners support us in this not only as donors, but as genuine strategic partners," he said.
Niklas Karlsson, Director of International Market Development and Investments at the Swedish Energy Agency, spoke about how the agency works with Ukraine — across research, innovation, market development and policy. He pointed to the NECP process as a natural space for deeper cooperation, including on alignment with EU energy policy.
Hanna Hladkykh, Project Manager of the Green Agenda for Ukraine, put it plainly: Ukraine's recovery goals, EU accession and economic resilience all run through the green transition. There is no version of success that skips it.
"Delaying investment in green technologies — in energy and industry above all — means losing development and export opportunities Ukraine cannot afford to lose," she said.
Andriy Kitura, Head of the Green Transition Office, laid out where things actually stand. The NECP has been approved and moved to a live monitoring platform. The taxonomy law is in final approvals. The Green Platform already has over 120 funding programmes for businesses and municipalities.
"We are not waiting for the war to end to build the regulatory framework. Every document we sign off on now brings us closer to real green recovery. The EU Taxonomy, NECP monitoring, green finance tools and ESG — this foundation needs to be ready before large-scale recovery kicks in," he said.
Paul Westin, the Swedish Energy Agency's lead for Ukraine, added that the agency is also helping Swedish cleantech companies enter the Ukrainian market and supporting research on energy system resilience — part of a broader Swedish commitment to Ukraine through the war and beyond.
Ukraine is not waiting. It is building now.
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