In section 1 «Theoretical foundations of the functioning of gas distribution enterprises of Ukraine and issues of its efficiency assessment», based on a study of the current state of the natural gas market and gas distribution enterprises, trends in the development of the industry, the specifics of activity, the existing problematic issues were identified. The scientific result of this section is the author’s improvement of methodological approaches to assessing the effectiveness of gas distribution companies which operate in accordance with the going concern concept, taking into account its specificity, the high social importance of services, as well as the integration of the Ukrainian gas market into the European space and orient management to monitor and evaluate the dynamics of liabilities and assets, operating results and net cash flow, determination of key financial ratios, the values of which are unfavorable for further development. It was found that among the methods to assess the effectiveness of its activities the most appropriate is the Balanced Scorecard.
Proposed a definition of «efficiency of a gas distribution company», which determines the result of management decisions of operational and strategic nature, achieved in the subsystems of production, financial and human resource processes management of the company through cost optimization as a decisive factor, which is connected with regulatory rationing of income of gas distribution companies, the presence in the structure of tariff costs of protected items.
In section 2 «Diagnosis of the state of gas distribution enterprises under the current mechanism of ensuring their functioning» the justification of the influence of each individual subsystem of the gas distribution enterprise on the efficiency of its activities is presented. The author improved the approach to determining the components of the mechanism of ensuring the efficiency of functioning as a set of mutually agreed and interdependent goals and objectives of subsystems of gas distribution enterprise.
Decomposition of the results of calculations of the coefficients, the study of the tariff setting procedure, which is inherently incomplete in taking into account of the data of the tariff structure projects, developed by enterprises, and the duration of the investment development programs in conditions of existence of an extremely limited range of funding sources allowed to identify and consider the available regulatory, economic, technological framework in developing the SWOT-analysis matrix.
Improved approach to developing a system of key performance indicators, based on the allocation of indicators of achievement of established goals for the results and the process. For gas distribution companies, process indicators are related to technological procedures and norms, while financial indicators assess the generalized result of management. Groups of indicators in the system are created by areas: finance; customers; learning and growth; internal business processes.
In section 3 «Efficiency of functioning of gas distribution enterprises: modeling the directions of achievement» it is justified that the assessment of the potential level of performance based on predictive modeling, namely, the construction of predictive financial statements, is an effective tool for obtaining an insight into the potential of the enterprise and the presence of negative trends for early response to challenges that arise, the search and accumulation of all resources for the optimal organization of the enterprise depending on the evolving circumstances. As part of the work, the scientific and methodological approach to determining the potential level of efficiency for a timely response to changes in the volume of income and making appropriate management decisions was further developed.
Significant limitation of leverages of influence on the management of revenues from gas distribution service causes the need to bring to the forefront the issue of operating costs management, which requires a calculated justification of their dependence on exogenous and endogenous factors. A close relationship of the cost of goods and services from such factors as the average number of employees, the volume of natural gas distribution, the price of gas for industrial enterprises has been established.
The conducted research made it possible to determine conceptual approaches to the development of the mechanism of ensuring the efficiency of functioning of gas distribution enterprises, which include a comprehensive analysis of financial and non-financial performance indicators and their interpretation, monitoring the dynamics of factors affecting the income and expenses of enterprises and their forecasting, as well as consideration of trends in the energy sector, caused by the spread of energy efficiency programs and harmonization of legislation to the requirements of the EU Third Energy Package.
