Crisis within a Crisis? : How the Financial Crisis Highlights Power Sector Vulnerabilities in Europe and Central Asia Region

The global financial crisis severely affected economies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA). Currencies depreciated across the region. Government tax revenues declined sharply leading to high budget deficits and rising levels of public debt. T...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: World Bank
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:
GAS
OIL
TAX
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/295061468252913745/Crisis-within-a-crisis-How-the-financial-crisis-highlights-power-sector-vulnerabilities-in-Europe-and-Central-Asia-region
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27850
Description
Summary:The global financial crisis severely affected economies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA). Currencies depreciated across the region. Government tax revenues declined sharply leading to high budget deficits and rising levels of public debt. Tightening credit supply and deteriorating financial conditions have limited the ability to borrow in the public and private sector. The financial crisis slowed demand enough to delay an imminent energy shortage by a few years. In this sense, the financial crisis bought ECA countries some time. This report analyzes the impacts of the global financial crisis on power sectors in five countries in the ECA region: Armenia, Kyrgyz Republic, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. It estimates the investment gap and proposes a prioritization of critical investments in each country. The report also proposes actions needed to mobilize financing for the sector, including a continued commitment to legal, regulatory and policy reform in the sector. The global financial crisis has created a window of opportunity to meet investment needs and avert a potential power shortage, but Governments need to recognize and act on this opportunity. This report serves as a starting point to facilitate further World Bank engagement in the region that can help Governments make timely, critical investments and foster sustainable investment in the sector over the long-term.