Problemi Ekonomiki (May 2023)
Energy Efficiency of the Ukrainian Economy by Types of Economic Activity
Abstract
The article is concerned with assessing and analyzing the energy efficiency of the Ukrainian economy by types of economic activity. The study analyzes the place of Ukraine among other countries according to international rankings (indices): the Energy Transition Index, the Trilemma Index of the World Energy Council (WEC), the International Energy Security Risk Index. It is found that Ukraine’s positions in international rankings determine a number of interrelated problems of energy, economic and environmental development of the country, among which one of the major ones is the high energy intensity of GDP. The dynamics of energy intensity of GDP in some countries of the world and in Ukraine is analyzed. A matrix for estimating the energy efficiency of economies of countries (groups of countries) according to the criteria of direction and intensity of changes and the level of energy intensity of GDP is proposed. It is examined what structural changes occurred in the energy sector and economy of Ukraine by the type of continuity of the production process and the level of energy intensity in the final consumption of fuel and energy resources (FER) and production output. The specific weight of characteristics of groups of foreign economic activity of Ukraine in the final consumption of FER and production output is analyzed. The related indices are computed and directions of structural shifts in foreign economic activity in final consumption of FER and production output are determined. A general characterization of consistency of structural shifts in final consumption of FER and production output due to foreign economic activity and their groups in Ukraine is formed. The carried out study allowed to determine that the high energy intensity of Ukraine’s GDP is a consequence of the peculiarities of the structure of the national economy, shifted towards more energy-intensive industries and technological lag of most sectors of the economy from the level of developed countries. It is determined that, in general, in the structure of the economy of Ukraine there were coordinated minor changes in the final consumption of FER and production output. However, in parts of the group of foreign economic activity related to industries with a continuous type of production process with high and medium energy intensity, there were significant uncoordinated negative structural changes both in the final consumption of FER and in production output. Some increase in energy efficiency of the national economy was caused by a reduction in production volumes in highly energy-intensive industries with a continuous production cycle. Thus, despite the high rate of decline in the energy intensity of GDP in Ukraine, its energy intensity remains one of the highest in the world (exceeding the world average by 2.1 times), which determines the unsatisfactory energy efficiency of the economy.
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