US President Donald Trump has lifted the moratorium on the issuance of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export licenses imposed by his predecessor Joe Biden. The US Department of Energy reported that it is returning to the normal regime of reviewing export applications in accordance with Trump’s order.
“The Department has been instructed to resume reviewing applications for the export of US LNG to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the United States. The proper review of export applications is required by law and must be carried out accordingly,” the Energy Ministry said in a statement.
In December, the agency published the results of a study on LNG exports and set February 18 as the deadline for public comments on it. Now the Ministry of Energy has decided to extend the comment period until March 20, 2025.
Earlier, the Experts Club think tank, Brian Mefford and Maxim Urakin, released a video analysis on what changes are expected to occur in US domestic and foreign policy under Trump, the video is available on the Experts Club YouTube channel – https://youtu.be/W2elNY1xczM?si=MM-QjSqGce4Tlq6T
EXPERTS CLUB, EXPORT, GAS, LICENSE, MORATORIUM, TRUMP, URAKIN, Меффорд
DTEK Energy machine builders manufactured and repaired almost 1.1 thousand units of mining equipment in 2024.
“The key products include 11 new roadheaders and shearers,” the energy holding said in a press release on Tuesday.
The machine builders also provided more than a million spare parts and components to meet the needs of miners.
“Reliability of the energy sector and the heating season largely depend on the coordination and daily work of everyone. Ukrainian machine builders continue to make a significant contribution to this by supporting miners and Ukrainian coal mining,” said DTEK Energy CEO Oleksandr Fomenko.
As reported, last year DTEK Energy’s investments in Ukrainian coal mining amounted to about UAH 7.5 billion and were directed to the construction and repair of capital mine workings, completion of coal faces, provision of mine tunnelling equipment, underground mine transport and production capacity support projects.
“DTEK Energy provides a closed cycle of electricity generation from coal. The company’s installed capacity in thermal generation amounted to 13.3 GW as of January 2022. The company has established a full production cycle in coal mining: coal mining and enrichment, mechanical engineering, and maintenance of mine equipment.
Currently, most of DTEK Group’s thermal generation facilities have been destroyed as a result of Russian attacks.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to temporarily suspend all US foreign aid programs for 90 days pending a review to determine whether they meet his policy goals, the White House website reports.
“All heads of departments and agencies responsible for U.S. foreign development assistance programs should immediately suspend new commitments and disbursements of development assistance funds to foreign governments and non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and contractors providing development assistance until an analysis of such programs regarding their effectiveness and consistency with U.S. foreign policy is completed, to be conducted within 90 days of the date of this order,” the document says.
It is unclear how much aid is covered by the order, as funding for many programs has already been appropriated by Congress and should be spent, if not already.
In 2024, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih’s Kryvyi Rih Mining and Metallurgical Plant (AMKR, Dnipro region) paid UAH 6.6 billion in taxes and fees to budgets of all levels, up more than 60% from the total tax payments for 2023 (UAH 4.1 billion).
According to the plant’s press release on Wednesday, UAH 727 million of the budget payments for the past year went to the state budget and UAH 3 billion to local budgets. The company also paid almost UAH 830 million in unified social tax and UAH 2.1 billion in value added tax on imports of raw materials.
In the structure of taxes and fees in 2024, the largest amount was paid in land tax. Thus, the company paid almost UAH 2.2 billion in land tax to the local community of Kryvyi Rih, which is UAH 0.8 billion more than in 2023. This tax has become the main component of the growth in payments to local budgets.
Pavlo Zadorozhny, Chief Financial Officer of AMKR, emphasized that the company remains a reliable partner of the state despite the challenges of wartime and the company’s difficult financial situation.
“In 2024, the company tried to break even and carried out significant internal work to reduce costs. However, the instability of energy supply due to enemy attacks, high electricity tariffs and the need to import it, expensive logistics, and the unfavorable situation on world markets, unfortunately, created additional obstacles for us. For the third year in a row, we have been operating at a loss,” Zadorozhny stated.
According to him, despite these problems, AMKR continues to work on improving its operational and financial performance to ensure the future development of the company and its staff, as well as stable tax revenues to the state budget and local communities.
As reported, in 2023, AMKR paid UAH 4.1 billion in taxes and duties to the budgets of all levels, which is 2.1 times less than the total amount of tax payments in 2022 (UAH 8.8 billion). Of this amount, UAH 243 million went to the state budget and UAH 2.2 billion to local budgets. In addition, almost UAH 751 million of unified social tax and UAH 856 million of value added tax on imports of raw materials were paid.
In 2022, AMKR reduced its tax payments by 39.7% due to the decline in production as a result of the war – to UAH 8.8 billion in taxes and fees compared to UAH 14.6 billion in 2021.
In 2021, AMKR paid UAH 14.6 billion in taxes and duties to the budgets of all levels, which was 2.3 times higher than the total amount of tax payments in 2020 (UAH 6.4 billion).
“ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is the largest rolled steel producer in Ukraine. It specializes in long products, including rebar and wire rod.
ArcelorMittal owns the largest mining and metallurgical plant in Ukraine, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, and a number of small companies, including ArcelorMittal Berislav.
Zaporozhogneupor, Ukraine’s largest refractory products manufacturer and part of Metinvest Group, increased production by 25% year-on-year to 96 thousand tons in 2024.
According to the company, despite the difficulties caused by the full-scale war, Zaporozhogneupor’s team continues to work steadily, produce refractory products and provide quality services.
In 2024, Zaporozhogneupor produced about 96 thousand tons of refractory products, which is a quarter higher than in 2023. Consumers include the metallurgical, food, energy, and coke industries.
To ensure a high level of production, the company systematically monitors and improves the condition of its equipment and introduces new approaches to its operations. As a result, the level of emergency and unscheduled equipment downtime in 2024 was reduced by more than 20% compared to 2023.
“Our strategic goal for 2025 is to maintain our sales markets and, together with our partners, continue to support the Ukrainian economy,” said Artur Ivanchenko, CEO of Zaporozhogneupor.
“Zaporozhogneupor is Ukraine’s largest enterprise producing high quality refractory products and materials. The company produces chamotte, mullite, mullite-silica, mullite-corundum, periclase, periclase-chromite products, silicon carbide electric heaters and unmolded refractory materials. The company’s products are widely used in Ukraine, as well as in the CIS, Europe, Asia and Africa.
According to the third quarter of 2024, Metinvest B.V. (Netherlands) owned 50.7899% of Zaporozhogneupor shares, while Zaporizhstal owned 49.2101%.
The authorized capital of the PrJSC is UAH 75.925 million.
Ruta, a major Ukrainian manufacturer of sanitary and hygienic paper products, whose management company is VGP JSC (Lutsk), produced UAH 1 billion 751 million worth of products in 2024, up 8.7% from 2023.
According to statistics provided by Ukrpapir Association toInterfax-Ukraine, the company has thus slightly accelerated the positive dynamics of production volumes compared to last year, which it reached in the first nine months of 2023.
In physical terms, the company’s production of toilet paper in rolls, slightly exceeding the 2023 figure, amounted to 133.54 million units, which remains the third best result in the industry after Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill (272 million units) and Kokhava Paper Mill (137 million units).
The company produces pulp-based sanitary and hygienic products from imported base paper.
VGP’s portfolio includes dry and wet wipes, toilet paper, paper handkerchiefs, and kitchen towels. The assortment includes more than 180 items.
As reported, in 2023, VGP JSC produced products worth UAH 1 billion 611 million, up 64.8% year-on-year.
