| The project was to provide policy advice and hands-on assistance to the Ministry of Fuel and Energy (MFE) on the wide range of issues associated with the restructuring of the coal industry. The project provided a responsive service to the Minister and his Deputy Ministers. This was concerned with developing policy internal to MFE and supporting MFE discussions with other Ministries (notably Economy and Labour and Social Protection) and the World Bank.
The general method of working was for areas of strategic policy support to be defined by the Minister and for the foreign team then to draft position papers which set out the perceived need for action, the various options available, the relevance of foreign experience and evaluation. Policy would evolve through a series of working meetings around these papers.
The team comprised two near full time foreign advisors who developed close relationships with the Ministerial team. They were supported by foreign specialists in specific policy areas. A small local team was used, mainly lawyers to advise on aspects of Ukrainian law. The work generally took policy support to the point where officials in the MFE could draft regulations and law. The specific policy areas addressed by the team included :
- Privatisation ;
- leasing and licensing ;
- coal sector structure and relations with government ;
- corporate governance ;
- promotion of competition ;
- trade liberalisation ;
social welfare and payments.
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