Ukraine is negotiating with investors and is ready to act as their partner in an oil refinery project, but it needs guarantees for the supply of oil regardless of the political situation, Deputy Head of the President’s Office of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko has stated.
“We have an idea for our own oil refinery … This is a big investment. We spoke with several investors, but the state is also ready to invest in such an enterprise. At the same time, we need to understand how we will get oil so as not to depend on any political situations,” Tymoshenko said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, in particular, the presence of an oil refinery will fully guarantee the supply of bitumen for the Big Construction project.
Tymoshenko stated that today, due to cheaper logistics in the volume of bitumen imports to Ukraine, Belarus is the leader.
“There is also Ukrainian bitumen – Kremenchuk [oil refinery], but its volumes are not enough, although the plant is operating at full capacity. In addition, there are quality issues related to the oil used, but in principle it is now at the level,” Tymoshenko said.
He noted that, in addition to Belarusian bitumen, Ukraine imports Greek, Italian and from other countries. The scheme for the supply of bitumen by tankers was worked out last year, when there were traffic jams on the border with Belarus.
“We do not think that Belarus will stop supplying bitumen to us, because we are a really large customer … If Belarus refuses to supply bitumen to Ukraine, then its suppliers, according to our information, have booked quotas in other countries. There will be no problems with this,” he said.
Tymoshenko also said that within the framework of the Big Construction project, Ukraine is ready to build new oil and gas terminals on the Black Sea, there are preliminary agreements after the visit of the President of Ukraine to Qatar.
At present, the state, through NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy, owns 51% in Ukrnafta, the largest oil company, which in 2020 reduced oil and condensate production by 1%, to 1.5 million tonnes. Another 42% are controlled by the ex-owners of PrivatBank. Oil and condensate production by Naftogaz Group decreased to 1.95 million tonnes from 2 million tonnes a year earlier, while in Ukraine as a whole – to 2.4 million tonnes from 2.43 million tonnes in 2019.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 01/06/21
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of June 1
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
DTEK is considering the possibility of expanding its oil and gas business in Ukraine, CEO of the company Maksym Timchenko has said in an interview with the Ekonomichna Pravda edition.
“We are constantly studying the deposits of all available players on the market. That is, we are open to expanding our business, without exception, with all players, including state-owned companies. If there are such opportunities not only for acquisitions, but also for joint activities, some kind of joint projects in exploration and production, we are ready for this,” he said.
According to Timchenko, in particular, the assets of Geo Alliance group for DTEK are “a potential area of our interest.” At the same time, he did not comment on the details of the negotiations.
As reported, in 2020 DTEK Oil and Gas increased natural gas production by 10.8% (by 180 million cubic meters) compared to 2019, to 1.84 billion cubic meters. In 2021, the company plans to increase gas production to 2 billion cubic meters.
Geo Alliance produced 203 million cubic meters of gas in 2020.
Geo Alliance is under the mandate of the international investment and consulting group EastOne, which unites the assets of Victor Pinchuk. In 2012, EastOne announced a strategic partnership between Geo Alliance and Arawak Energy Ukraine BV, part of the Vitol group of companies, one of the largest operators in the world energy market.
An Iranian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Mohsen Baharvand arrived in Kyiv for talks on the Ukraine International Airline (UIA) flight PS752 shot down near Tehran in 2020, Iranian Ambassador to Kyiv Manuchehr Moradi said.
“A delegation from the Islamic Republic of Iran led by Mr. Mohsen Baharvand […] arrived in Ukraine today to discuss the third round of talks between the two countries on the technical and legal aspects of the tragic disaster of the Ukrainian PS752,” Moradi said on Twitter.
On May 31, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine registered a European-made AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 for emergency medical use, according to the agency’s website.
The vaccine, developed by Oxford University and the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, is reportedly manufactured in Italy and has the trade name AstraZeneca. The AstraZeneca emergency vaccine has already been approved by the World Health Organization and has also been approved by the UK, EU, India and Canada.
By the end of the week, within the framework of the global COVAX initiative, 705,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will arrive in Ukraine. It will be intended for vaccination with a second dose of those who have already passed the 12-week interval after the first vaccination, in particular, doctors and healthcare workers, JFO participants, social workers, clergymen, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine, persons aged 65+. Also, the second dose of the vaccine is guaranteed to people who were vaccinated with residual doses or public figures.
