This paper summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion

on developing the free-carbon economy in Ukraine. The main purpose of the paper is elaborating

the energy efficiency profile of Ukraine to assure the development of the free-carbon economy. To

achieve this purpose, the authors carried out an investigation in the following logical sequence.

Firstly, the bibliometric analysis of 4674 of the most cited articles indexed by the Scopus database

was conducted. The obtained findings indicated that the green economy transformation depended

on the main factors such as economic performance, corruption, macroeconomic stability, social

welfare, shadow economy etc. As a result, the forecast of the final energy consumption to 2030

was performed. The methodological tool of this research is based on the Autoregressive Integrated

Moving Average (ARIMA) model. This study involved data of the Visegrad countries (Poland, the

Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and Hungary) and Ukraine from 2000 to 2018. The base of

data is Eurostat, the EU statistical service. Based on the obtained results of analyzing the green

economic transformation in the Visegrad countries and Ukraine, the authors intimated the existence

of the significant energy-efficient gap in Ukraine compared to the analyzed countries. In reliance on

the experience of the Visegrad countries and the forecast results, the authors provided the main recommendations

for providing the green transforming in Ukraine. The authors highlighted that the obtained

results of this paper were considered to be the base for future investigations considering the influence

of endogenous and exogenous factors on developing the free-carbon economy in Ukraine.