Ielyzaveta Badanova cooperates with the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine (regarding the implementation of the REPowerEU program) and the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine as an expert on the development of the oil and gas part of the first Ukrainian national energy and climate plan.
Liza received bachelor’ and master’s degrees in international law from the Institute of International Relations of Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University and an LL.M. from the University of Cambridge. After returning to Ukraine, the ambitious graduate realized that being a lawyer-consultant was not enough for her. Hence, she looked for a field where her knowledge and skills would make a significant contribution to Ukraine’s prosperity. She chose energy. “Through Google Search, I found an internship at the Energy Community Secretariat, which I started in April 2014. After the internship, I was offered a position on the Naftogaz team. At that time, there were few specialists in Ukraine who understood the European energy regulations,” Badanova says.
When asked why she chose energy, Liza explains: “Energy is a synergy of networks, organizations, individuals, strategies and tactics, politics, and geopolitics. It is the sphere of law which governs relations between consumers and suppliers, and where legislation generates visible results. I like cooperating with specialists from other fields; it is an incredible experience.”
Badanova separately focuses on the deeper integration of Ukrainian energy markets with the European ones: “And this is not only legislative work because we laid the foundation for European integration in gas back in 2015 with the adoption of the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Natural Gas Market.’ It includes systematic participation in the development and planning of new legislation, integration into the European energy infrastructure, and harmonization of legislation in the sphere of technical regulation. I like to delve into the details and sort it all out.”
Liza was at home when the full-scale invasion started. When she heard the first explosions, her heart sank because she realized that the war had come to Ukraine. According to her, Ukraine did not lose the previous achievements of European integration, even under the conditions of war. Currently, she is actively helping the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine to do the homework on the development of energy markets, helping Ukraine to meet its obligations under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. Badanova, as a consultant to the Ministry of Energy on regulatory issues, actively cooperates with the USAID Energy Security Project and considers the work of USAID ESP on reducing the risks of gas storage in Ukraine particularly promising. “The willingness of European gas traders to store natural gas in Ukrainian underground gas storages shows growing confidence in Ukraine,” and USAID ESP played a key role here.
When asked what motivates her to work on reforms despite the war, Liza says: “The desire not to squander those functioning and necessary developments that were achieved before 2022.” She reiterates that she feels responsible for how a legislative norm is formulated, as millions of human fates, businesses, economic prosperity and energy security all depend on it.