Vindkraft Ukraine, operating in the field of wind energy in Ukraine, has estimated its possible annual losses from the introduction of excise tax on “green” electricity at EUR3 million.
“Our losses from excise tax will amount to EUR3 million per year,” founder and CEO of the company Carl Sturen said in a comment to Energy Reform on the sidelines of a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on the development of renewable energy sources on June 9.
At the same time, he noted that with the introduction of the excise tax, it will be necessary to negotiate again with banks financing the company’s projects on restructuring loans.
“If a decision on excise tax is made now, it will be necessary to recalculate it again, to renegotiate that we cannot fulfill the payment schedules. This is an ongoing process,” Sturen complained.
According to him, both in the past and in the current year, the company’s management is continuously engaged in restructuring loans.
“We are constantly doing this. First, we signed a memorandum – we built our schedules with the banks according to the memorandum, taking into account that it will be fulfilled. Then the memorandum is not fulfilled – it was necessary to negotiate in a new way. Now the excise tax is impending – negotiations again,” the head of Vindkraft Ukraine described the situation.
At the same time, he stressed that in such conditions it is impossible to build anything, specifying that “the company planned to build a wind farm with a capacity of 200 MW in Kherson region this year, but it is already obvious that it will not have time to do this.”
According to Sturen, it is now difficult to negotiate financing for new projects.
“Nobody is funding, they are waiting for the law and the memorandum to be fulfilled. Everything is in limbo,” he explained the state of affairs.
Nevertheless, the CEO of the company believes that the signing of the memorandum was the right decision.
“All the same, this memorandum was correct. I see the government’s attempts to fulfill it, but, unfortunately, the situation is complicated, rather, by the manipulation of those bodies that are not directly subordinate to the government. This, in particular, is the regulator,” Sturen said.
He substantiated his position by the fact that participants in the electricity market, allowing manipulations on it, remain unpunished, and this is within the competence of the energy regulator – the NEURC.
“If the market players undermine it with fake volumes and bids for consumption and sale, if there is no punishment for this, manipulations, in my understanding, are in full swing. And “green” generation suffers and artificial losses are created for Energoatom,” he said.
In his opinion, “green” generation, requiring payments and balancing, creates only 5% of problems in the market, and 95% arise from manipulations on it.
The main pipe enterprises of Ukraine in January-May this year increased production of pipes from ferrous metals, according to recent data, by 15.8% compared to the same period last year, to 385,000 tonnes, including 96,900 tonnes produced in May.
According to a press release of the Ukrtruboprom association on Wednesday, in particular, the enterprises of the association during this period increased pipe production by 11.8%, to 249,500 tonnes, including 67,000 tonnes produced in May, having raised production by 53.3% compared to the same period last year and by 17.3% compared to April this year.
“Ukrainian pipe enterprises continue to increase production,” the press release said.
At the same time, it is specified that the positive dynamics is demonstrated by Interpipe Niko Tube, which over the five months has increased output of pipe products by 46.1%. At the same time, Centravis cut production by 8.6% and Interpipe Novomoskovsk Pipe Plant by 21.3%, while Trubostal kept pipe production at last year’s level.
At the same time, Dnipropetrovsk Pipe Plant continues to be idle.
General Director of Ukrtruboprom Heorhiy Polsky noted that the growth of production at pipe enterprises began in March and has continued for the third month in a row.
“The positive dynamics in May was mainly due to the continued favorable situation in foreign markets. The increase and subsequent stabilization of oil prices led to an increase in demand for oil and gas pipes, and the end of winter has intensified the consumption of pipe products for construction purposes. An important positive factor was also the removal in different countries of restrictions related to the spread of COVID-19,” the press release said, citing the General Director.
At the same time, Polsky noted that demand within Ukraine continues to stagnate: hydrocarbon production is falling, and the renewal of housing and communal services has stalled. In this regard, Ukrainian pipe manufacturers are forced to rely on export markets.
“It is also necessary to note the sharp rise in the price of Ukrainian strip, which affected the plants producing welded pipes. In the spring, prices for this metal product rose by almost half. As a result, the pipe enterprises were unable to quickly shift the growth of costs during pricing, that is why they lost orders and reduced production,” the head of Ukrtruboprom said.
A source in the industry, not a member of the Ukrtruboprom association, told Interfax-Ukraine that Mariupol-based Illich Iron and Steel Works over the five months of 2021 increased pipe production by 10.8%, to 64,500 tonnes ( in May – 14,300 tonnes), and Kominmet increased pipe production by 38.7%, to 71,000 tonnes (15,600 tonnes).
According to its information, which was confirmed by Interpipe, since April of this year, the pipe rolling production at Interpipe Nyzhniodniprovsky Pipe Rolling Plant has formally become a part of Interpipe Niko Tube.
Transit of gas through Ukraine should remain even after the construction of Nord Stream 2, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.
Maas told journalists in Berlin on Wednesday that Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin long ago that for Germany, the completion of the construction of Nord Stream 2 is associated with the need for further gas transit through Ukraine.
According to him, nothing will change in Germany’s position in this regard.
Over the past day, June 8, some 53,161 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 in Ukraine, the total number of immunized people was 1,328,070, the press service of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine reports.
“Some 53,161 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 per day on June 8, 2021. A total of 43,925 people received one dose, 9,236 people were fully immunized,” the official Telegram channel of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine said on Wednesday morning.
The department said that 485 mobile teams and 624 vaccination points worked during the day.
“As of June 9, 2021, some 659,473 people signed up for the COVID-19 vaccination waiting list,” it reported.
Since the beginning of the vaccination campaign 1,328,070 people have been vaccinated, of which 1,328,068 people received one dose, some 161,378 people were fully immunized and received two doses (two of them received one dose abroad). A total of 1,489,446 vaccinations were carried out.
The Ukrainian industrial company Interpipe proceeds to expand its presence in the export markets, signing a three-year contract with Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière (SNIM) for supplying of 1,076 mm locomotive wheels according to the AAR standard.
The company said in a press release on Tuesday that SNIM is the only owner of 704 km railway infrastructure in Mauritania and is mainly operates large-scale freight transport.
The railway line connects the city of Zouérat, the center of country’s iron ore industry, with the port of Nouadhibou. The length of a single rolling stock consisting 200 wagons may be up to 2.5 km, so from two to four locomotives are usually used at the head of the railway train.
Director of Interpipe Railway Products Division Oleksndr Garkavij said that locomotive wheel is a technically complex product for North African countries. “Their wear resistance indicators have to be at a high level in sandy deserts. Moreover, Mauritanian trains are one of the longest and heaviest in the world. Our strategy is to continue increasing the share of export deliveries of railway products,” he said.
Interpipe is global producer of steel pipes and railway wheels, based in Ukraine. The company’s products are marketed in more than 80 countries all around the world via the network of sales offices located in key markets of Ukraine, Europe, North America and the Middle East. In 2020, Interpipe supplied 662,000 tonnes of finished goods, including 192,000 tonnes of railway products.
The ultimate owner of Interpipe Limited is Ukrainian businessman Victor Pinchuk and his family members.
Ukraine should regulate its role in the issue of grain policy in global markets, in particular, it concerns phytosanitary issues, new approaches to the use of pesticides and issues of traceability of grain origin, the Ministry of Economy said on Wednesday.
“Usually we adopt EU policy and implement it in Ukraine, including trade issues. But this is not always necessary. We shall develop our own position. In particular, my task, as chairing the International Grains Council, is to attract attention of global markets to the grain policy of Ukraine,” Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka said.
The Ministry of Economy said that on June 8 Kachka met with GAFTA Director General Jaine Chisholm Caunt and members of the organization’s council to discuss possible cooperation between Ukraine and the International Grains Council and GAFTA. The ministry called this meeting especially relevant on the eve of the beginning of Ukraine’s chairmanship in the International Grains Council.
“It is important to deepen the dialog between trade institutions, such as the International Grains Council, GAFTA, WTO, because finding a balance in international trade is directly related to ensuring global food security. We see more and more ties between the business community of Ukraine and international trade institutions and consider the development of this dialogue is key in our trade policy,” Kachka said.
The Ministry of Economy recalled that GAFTA (Grain and Feed Trade Association) is an international trade association headquartered in London, consisting of grain traders, brokers and other specialists in the international grain trade. Founded on November 17, 1871 it has over 1,900 members in 100 countries.
