Administrative acts in the sphere of functioning of the natural gas market of Ukraine: problems of legislative regulation

The article is devoted to the issues of legislative regulation of administrative acts in the field of ensuring the functioning of the natural gas market. The author highlights the significant importance of the Law of Ukraine “On Administrative Procedure” dated February 17, 2022, for the implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union of December 7, 2000, and European “soft law” acts in the field of good administration in Ukraine, including in the area of the natural gas market. It is emphasized that administrative acts in this sphere share both general features typical of all administrative acts and specific ones. These specific features include their focus on public administration in the area of ensuring the functioning of the natural gas market; the administrative bodies involved are the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission, the State Energy Supervision Inspectorate of Ukraine, and others; applicants or other recipients of such administrative acts include the gas transmission system operator and other market participants as defined by law. Administrative acts in the field of the natural gas market operation can be classified as follows: 1) facilitative (positive) – acts aimed at ensuring the rights of business entities or other persons provided for by law in the sphere of the natural gas market operation; 2) burdensome (negative) – acts that impose certain obligations on business entities or other persons provided for by law. The adoption of the Law on Administrative Procedure has positively influenced the improvement of the procedure for issuing administrative acts in this field. Among other things, it has provided for: the Europeanization of the principles governing interaction between administrative bodies performing tasks and functions in the natural gas market and private individuals; improvement of the procedure for issuing administrative acts related to the provision of administrative services in this area; enhancement of the legal status of participants in administrative procedures within the natural gas market; modernization of the inspection (supervisory and control) procedure in this sphere, and more.