Компанії-постачальники на енергетичному ринку України: конкуренція стратегій

Abstract

Liberalization of Ukrainian energy markets provides end consumers with the possibility to deliberately choose an energy supplier. Consequently, companies selling natural gas and electric energy have entered into a stiff competition. Since the specifics of the product sold in these markets do not imply opportunities for its improvement, the emphasis in competitive strategies was placed on price and improvement of customer services. There is a competition of strategies in the market: a large number of suppliers are trying to create and maintain competitive advantages in various ways. The purpose of the study is to allocate the basic competitive strategies that supplier companies adhere to in the Ukrainian energy market, compare the efficiency of these strategies, as well as determine further prospects for their implementation. Depending on what advantages the suppliers are guided by, the following ones were allocated: predatory strategy (the desire to obtain a monopoly rent); resource strategy (the desire to obtain a Ricardian rent); intellectual leadership strategy (the desire to obtain a Schumpeterian rent); grid strategy (the desire to obtain the rent of relationship); imitation-parasitic strategy (the desire to obtain a fraudulent rent). In its pure form, these strategies do not exist, as a rule, a symbiosis of several strategies is used. Although market leaders are companies with resource strategies (heirs to former natural monopolists), they are confronting an eager pressure on the part of the energy suppliers, focused on Schumpeterian rent and rent of relationship. Since innovations are available to all energy traders in customer services, those companies that become intelligent leaders in business models and processes are likely to win the competition. Both the predatory and the imitation-parasitic strategies cause numerous negative consequences for all market participants – consumers, generation, independent suppliers, the regulator, therefore they meet with significant resistance from these groups. Consequently, the potential for their use is limited.