This was discussed at a meeting of the Head of the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine Hanna Zamazieieva with representatives of the Czech RSJ Investments Foundation and their partner company.
The Czech partners assured of their desire to help Ukraine and Ukrainian communities become less energy dependent through bioenergy projects.
The Czech Fund is considering installing biomass boilers in Ukraine. The scale of the plans is impressive: the total capacity of the boiler houses is 80 MW, and the amount of investment is more than €12 million. The ultimate goal is to ensure uninterrupted heat supply in Ukrainian hospitals and other institutions.
“Such projects as alternative fuel boiler houses are one of the most relevant solutions for Ukrainian communities. It is an opportunity to provide heat, first of all, to critical infrastructure facilities, even during energy challenges,” emphasized Hanna Zamazeyeva.
The Chairman presented the significant potential of Ukrainian bioenergy, the legislative framework and the initiatives that the Agency’s team is working on to stimulate investment in this area.
The parties went through all the obstacles faced by market participants and discussed various ways to overcome them.
As a result of the meeting, the participants agreed to consolidate efforts to develop heat production from alternative fuels and the cultivation of energy crops.
On Sunday, September 3, there will be short-term rains in the western, Vinnytsia, and in some places in Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Cherkasy, and Odesa regions, significant rains and thunderstorms in the Carpathian and Transcarpathian regions, and no precipitation in the rest of the country, the Ukrainian Weather Center reports.
In the western part, there will be fog in some places at night and in the morning. Wind of variable directions, 3-8 m / s.
Temperature at night 12-17°, during the day 22-27°, in the west of the country 18-23°; in the south at night 15-20°, during the day 25-30°.
In Kyiv, on September 3, there will be no precipitation at night, and in some places short-term rain during the day.
Wind of variable directions, 3-8 m / s. The temperature at night will be 15-17°, during the day 23-25°.
According to the Borys Sreznevsky Central Geophysical Observatory. On September 3, the highest daytime temperature in Kyiv was 32.4° in 1890, the lowest at night was 5.7° in 1898.
On September 4, in Ukraine, at night in the western, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, and some parts of Kyiv regions, during the day in the southwestern and southeastern regions, there will be short-term rains, sometimes thunderstorms; in the rest of the country, no precipitation.
The wind is mostly northeast, 5-10 m / s.
Temperature at night 11-16 °, during the day 22-27 °, in the west 18-23 °; in the southern part at night 14-19 °, during the day 26-31 °.
In Kyiv on September 4, Monday, there will be short-term rain at night, no precipitation during the day.
Northeast wind, 5-10 m / s. Temperature at night 13-15°, during the day 24-26°.
Ukraine’s Consolidated Balance of Payments in July this year was reported with a surplus of $2.6bn compared to a surplus of $0.97bn in June this year and a deficit of $0.3bn in July last year, the National Bank of Ukraine said on its website.
According to its data, the cumulative surplus for the first seven months of this year reached $10.37bn against a deficit of $8.40bn for the same period last year.
At the same time, the situation with the current accounts is the opposite: if in July last year its surplus of $1.40 billion was recorded, in July this year – a deficit of $0.78 billion after four months of surplus.
“The formation of the deficit is due to the expansion of the negative balance of trade in goods and services and smaller amounts of grant aid received from international partners,” explained the National Bank.
As a result, the current account deficit reached $1.95 billion in January-July this year against a surplus of $4.30 billion in January-July last year. Excluding reinvested earnings and grants from international partners, the deficit amounted to $9.1 billion, more than an order of magnitude higher than the deficit of $743 million in the first seven months of 2022.
According to the NBU, exports of goods decreased by 17.1% in July, while their imports increased by 10.2% year-on-year. Compared to the previous month, exports and imports of goods decreased by 21.1% and 1.5% respectively.
It is indicated that the volume of exports of goods amounted to $2.2 billion. Exports decreased in the following major commodity groups: food products – by 8.7% (-20.5% compared to June); mineral products (including ores) – by 38.4% (-11.0%); ferrous and non-ferrous metals – by 22.9% (-25.5%).
Machine-building products were exported 46.3% (-52.7%) less than in July last year; wood and wood products – 27.2% (-16.6%); chemical industry products – 24.2% (-16.8%). Exports of industrial products were at the level of last year, at the same time decreasing by 15.5% compared to June.
The National Bank specified that in July this year, in nominal terms, all the decline in exports of goods was provided by the reduction of their exports to the EU countries (by $478 million, or 24.9%), the share of EU countries decreased from 71.7% to 64.9%. Exports to the countries of America (by $78 mln, or 66.1%, their share decreased from 4.4% to 1.8%) and CIS countries (by $25 mln, or 16.8%, their share remained at 5.6%) also decreased. At the same time, exports to Africa (by $51 mln, or 2.2 times, their share increased from 1.5% to 4.1%) and Asia (by $15 mln, or 3.7%, their share increased from 15.1% to 18.8%) increased.
The volumes of imports of goods amounted to $5.1 billion: although energy imports decreased by 48.7% (down by 13.0% against June), non-energy imports increased by 30.1% (at the level of June).
In particular, imports of engineering products amounted to 38.5% (+0.9% vs. June); chemical products – 10.3% (+8.2%); ferrous and non-ferrous metals – 22.7% (+1.2%); food products -8.8% (-8.7%). In addition, imports of industrial products increased by 15.6% (+1.0%); wood and wood products – by 6.1% (-2.1%).
In July 2023, in nominal terms, imports from Asia (by $378 million, or 29.9%, and their share increased from 27.5% to 32.5%) and the EU (by $140 million, or 5.8%, but their share decreased from 52.4% to 50.3%) increased more. At the same time, imports from CIS countries decreased (by $115 million, or 63.9%, and their share in imports of goods fell from 3.9% to 1.3%).
The deficit of trade in services in July this year halved compared to July last year – to $614 million: exports of services increased by 12.6%, while imports decreased by 18.3%.
Exports of services grew mainly due to transportation (by 17.3% due to road and rail transport) and other business services (by 25.7%). Exports of computer services also continued to grow – by 3.1% (by 1.6% in June). Imports of services decreased primarily due to a decrease in expenditures of refugees and short-term migrants abroad – by 22.9%, to $1.4 billion. Imports of financial services also decreased – by 53.1%
Import volumes of transportation services increased by 17.3% (due to sea, rail and air transport services and postal and courier services), telecommunication and computer services – by 23.7% and other business services – by 1.8 times.
As reported by the National Bank, the primary income balance surplus narrowed to $669 million (July 2022 – $879 million). This was due to a simultaneous decrease in receipts under the item “remuneration of labor” (by 5.2%) and an increase in payments on income from investments, including at the expense of reinvested income, which amounted to $194 million (in July 2022, negative reinvested income amounted to $40 million).
The secondary income balance surplus totaled $2.0 billion and was generated primarily by grant receipts of $1.3 billion (July 2022 surplus was $3.7 billion and grant receipts were $2.7 billion).
The volume of private remittances, according to the NBU, decreased by 5.8% to $939 million: wages received by Ukrainians from abroad increased by 2.9%, while other private remittances received through official channels fell by 22.0%. Overall, official channels sent 11.2% less remittances than in July last year, while the flow through informal channels increased by 0.9%.
Total remittances decreased by 10.2% in January-July 2023, including: net compensation of employees by 9.0% and private transfers by 12.9%.
Net borrowing from the outside world (total current and capital account balances) amounted to $764 million, as noted by the National Bank, compared to net lending of $1.4 billion in July 2022.
In total, net borrowing from the outside world amounted to $1.9 billion in the first seven months of 2023, compared to net lending of $4.4 billion in the corresponding period last year.
Net inflows on the financial account amounted to $3.3 billion in July this year against a net outflow of $1.7 billion in July last year and were primarily driven by inflows from public sector operations.
In total, for the first seven months of 2023, net inflows on the financial account amounted to $12.2 billion, compared to a net outflow of ;12.8 billion in the same period last year.
It is specified that the net inflow on public sector operations in July was $3.2bn compared to an outflow of $196m in July last year and was due to net inflows on loans from international partners amounting to $3.1bn. At the same time, net inflows on government bonds amounted to $14m.
The National Bank estimated net inflows of foreign direct investment at $403 mln in July, compared to $150 mln in July 2022. Including reinvestment of banking sector earnings amounted to $194 mln; net equity capital inflow (excluding reinvestment of earnings) – $114 mln; net attraction on debt instruments – $94 mln, including $20 mln on loans of sister companies (in July 2022 – $95 mln, including $19 mln on loans of sister companies).
For the first seven months of 2023, the National Bank estimates net FDI inflows at $2.2 billion (including reinvestment of earnings – $1.6 billion), while for the first seven months of 2022, net outflows totaled $141 million (including reinvestment of earnings – $1.6 billion). In the first seven months of 2022, net outflows totaled $141 million (including reinvestment of earnings – $415 million).
Net equity inflows (excluding reinvestment of earnings) amounted to $399m in January-July ($185m in sevenM 2022), while net borrowings on debt instruments amounted to $371m (net repayments of $658m in sevenM 2022).
The NBU added that the net increase in the external position on banks’ operations on portfolio and other investments in July amounted to $151 million (in July last year – $391 million): net purchase of non-resident securities by banks in the amount of $250 million was partially offset by a net decrease in the external position on “currency and deposits” in the amount of $101 million.
The net increase in the external position of the real sector (excluding foreign direct investment) amounted to $112 million ($1.4 billion in July last year) and was due to multidirectional factors: an increase in the volume of cash currency outside banks by $593 million ($776 million in July 2022) with a simultaneous decrease in the net external position on trade credits by $506 million.
In January-June 2023, the National Bank estimated the growth of cash currency outside banks at $6.6 billion, while in the corresponding period of 2022 – at $5.9 billion.
The U.S. presidential administration will send armor-piercing shells containing depleted uranium to Ukraine for the first time, they are part of a new military aid package for Ukraine, Reuters reported on Friday.
“The projectiles, which could help destroy Russian tanks, are part of a new military aid package for Ukraine to be unveiled next week. The munitions could be fired from U.S. Abrams tanks, which a source familiar with the situation said are due to be delivered to Ukraine in the coming weeks. One official said the future aid package would range from $240 million to $375 million, depending on what is included,” the report said.
Depleted uranium, is used in munitions because its extreme density gives projectiles the ability to easily penetrate armor and self-ignite in a scalding cloud of dust and metal. Although depleted uranium is radioactive, it is much less so than natural uranium, and also its particles can persist for a considerable amount of time.
Earlier it was reported that the British authorities in April transferred to Ukraine several thousand shells for Challenger 2 tanks, some of which contained depleted uranium.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us-send-its-first-depleted-uranium-rounds-ukraine-sources-2023-09-01/
The Security Service of Ukraine has served businessman Ihor Kolomoisky with a notice of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code.
“According to the materials of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Bureau of Economic Security, the actual owner of a large financial and industrial group, Ihor Kolomoisky, received a notice of suspicion of committing crimes,” the message posted on the Telegram channel reads.
The Security Service states that Kolomoisky has been notified of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Article 190 (fraud) and Article 209 (legalization (laundering) of property obtained by criminal means).
Law enforcement agencies established that the businessman legalized more than UAH 0.5 billion in 2013-2020 by transferring it abroad, using the infrastructure of controlled banking institutions.
“The company’s credit obligations were created directly to the oligarch, and all subsequent transfers of the company’s debt were made to Kolomoisky’s personal account,” the BES said in a press release.
It is noted that the pre-trial investigation is ongoing under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Source: https://t.me/SBUkr/9500
PJSC “Ukrnafta” in January-July 2023 increased production of oil with condensate by 4.5% (by 36 thousand tons) compared to the same period of 2022 – up to 828 thousand tons, the press service of the company reported.
The average daily production of oil with condensate for seven months of 2023 was 3.9 thousand tons, 2022 – 3.7 thousand tons, 2021 – 4 thousand tons.
Ukrnafta’s gas production in January-July 2023 increased by 6.8% (by 40 million cubic meters) compared to the same period of 2022 – to 628 million cubic meters.
Average daily gas production for seven months of 2023 amounted to 2.964 million cubic meters, 2022 – 2.772 million cubic meters, 2021 – 3.015 million cubic meters.
According to the press-service, for seven months of the current year 65 workovers, 18 stimulations, 15 stimulations without workover crews, 13 coiled tubing operations were carried out at the company’s fields. 21 wells were brought out of inactivity.
“Cumulatively, these and other measures brought additional 52 thousand tons of oil and 28 million cubic meters of gas,” the company said.
In addition, Ukrnafta in January-June 2023 transferred 12.32 billion UAH of taxes to budgets of all levels, including 1.187 billion UAH of income tax for the first quarter and 2.077 billion UAH – for the second quarter.
As reported, Ukrnafta, which has been fully under state control since the end of 2022, has set a strategic goal to double its oil and natural gas production to 3 million tons and 2 billion cubic meters respectively by 2027. In 2023, the company plans to increase oil production by 5.8% (up 0.077 million tons) year-on-year to 1.447 million tons, and gas production by 0.3% (up 0.003 million cubic meters) to 1.04 billion cubic meters.
On November 5, 2022, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief decided to seize the shares of Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta (except for the controlling and blocking stakes of Naftohaz Ukrainy, respectively) as state property during martial law. Prior to the seizure, the structures of Igor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Bogolyubov owned about 42% of Ukrnafta and, together with other partners, a controlling stake in Ukrtatnafta.
As of the end of March 2023, Ukrnafta had 89 fields with 23 million tons of proven reserves and with 1,806,000 active oil wells and 152 gas wells. The company operates 537 gas stations, of which 28 have been modernized. Sales at them this year are expected to reach 350,000 tons, or about 7% of the market. Last year, wholesale and retail sales of petroleum products totaled 1.665 million tons.
At the end of June 2023, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) allowed Ukrnafta to take control of stakes in the authorized capitals of Ukrnaftoburnia, Sakhalinskoye, Sirius-1, and East Europe Petroleum, which operate in the Sakhalin gas condensate field. In general, the Sakhalin field will produce 844.3 million cubic meters of gas and 86 thousand tons of oil and condensate in 2020 and 789.5 million cubic meters and 80.8 thousand tons in 2021.
condensate, GAS, OIL, UKRNAFTA
