The powerful interstate power transmission line between Poland and Ukraine modernized by NEC Ukrenergo together with Polish transmission system operator PSE has successfully passed a three-day test since April 27, the NEC said.
According to Ukrenergo, the total cost of the project amounted to 350 million UAH, in addition, about 1 thousand tons of necessary equipment was provided for free by Polish partners.
The company explained that the bulk of the work was done in this node, so that the electricity produced by the Ukrainian power system could be converted to the European voltage of 400 kV and transmitted to Europe.
“It was a complex but mutually beneficial project that we implemented in cooperation with our European colleagues. It is important both for Ukraine and the energy security of Europe,” commented Volodymyr Kudrytsky, chairman of the board of Ukrenergo, as quoted in the company’s Telegram feed on Tuesday.
According to him, the line will strengthen links between the Ukrainian and European energy systems, constituting an additional element of European energy security and contributing to the development of a stable energy network in Ukraine.
“If the needs are different, we will be able to import electricity from Europe,” Kudritsky said.
The NEC added that the total length of the line is almost 400 km, more than 70% of which runs through Ukraine. The line is connected to the backbone network through an open switchgear on one of the Ukrainian power facilities. On the construction of the facility from the Ukrainian side for five months during the war worked 125 specialists – 45 employees of “Ukrenergo” and 80 contractors.
At the same time, Polish operator PSE on its auction platform on Tuesday announced a one-month auction to allocate available cross-section capacity on the Rzeszow-Khmelnitsky line for delivery from May 15-31. The capacity offered in the auction is 200 MW for exports from Ukraine and 350 MW for imports from Poland. Under the auction terms, bids from bidders will be accepted until May 8 at 16:00, with the results to be announced by the same time on May 10. Since NEC Ukrenergo during the war can only conduct daily auctions according to the requirements of ENTSO-E, it has to conduct them two days before the delivery day, i.e. the first can be expected on May 13 for the same capacity to be distributed by the Polish operator.
At the same time, the market notes that for the first week of May, Ukrenergo does not distribute cross-section capacity on the Dobrotvir-Zamosc line, through which DTEK Zakhidenergo exports 75MW hourly to Poland, due to a number of holidays in this country and the failure to hold auctions by the Polish operator.
As reported, the reconstructed 400 kV line between KNPP and Rzeszow was scheduled to be put into operation at the end of April. Reconstruction of the 750 kV Khmelnitsky NPP (KNPP) – Rzeszow line, which has not been in operation since the 1990s, provided for its transfer to the 400 kV voltage used in the European grid. Its launch allows for a 25-30% increase in Ukrainian export potential. The line will operate in synchronous mode, i.e. all participants of the Ukrainian and European markets will have access to it.
Azerbaijan reduced associated petroleum gas production 2.9% year-on-year in Q1 2023 to 3.809 billion cubic meters, an oil and gas market source told Interfax.
The total included 985.81 million cubic meters of saleable gas, down 27.3%.
Associated gas accounted for 31.3% of Azerbaijan’s total gas production. Natural gas accounted for the remaining 68.7% and totaled 8.35 bcm.
Gas condensate production fell 1.5% to 1.289 million tonnes and accounted for 16.7% of total oil production. The remaining 83.3% or 6.434 million tonnes was crude oil.
The bulk of associated gas is produced at the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) fields, and most of it is re-injected into the reservoir to maintain pressure. The rest is supplied to State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) free of charge. Most of the condensate is produced at the Shah Deniz field, from where it is exported by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
The Verkhovna Rada has extended the period of martial law and general mobilization in Ukraine for another 90 days.
The adoption of bills No. 9259 and No. 9260 on the approval of the relevant presidential decrees was supported by 324 and 333 deputies at the plenary session on Tuesday, said Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a member of the Holos parliamentary faction.
“The period of martial law and mobilization in Ukraine lasts from 05:30 on May 20, 2023 for a period of 90 days, that is, until August 18, 2023. This was the seventh parliamentary vote for martial law since the beginning of the war,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
The adoption of draft laws No. 9259 and No. 9260 provides for the approval of presidential decrees No. 254/2023 and No. 255/2023 of May 1, according to which the terms of martial law and general mobilization in Ukraine are extended from May 20 for 90 days.
PJSC Kharkivenergosbyt, which is managed by the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU), will pay 64.2 million UAH in dividends to the state for 2022, which is six times more than in 2021.
“This decision was made by the general meeting of shareholders of Kharkovenergosbyt on April 24, 2023. Payment of dividends will take place through the depository system of Ukraine,” – reported on the website of the FGIU.
According to the fund, the amount of net profit of “Kharkovenergosbyt” for 2022 amounted to 198 million UAH and according to the decision of the general meeting, it will be distributed as follows: 50% – is directed to the payment of dividends to shareholders, 10% – on the costs provided by the financial plan for 2023, 10% – transferred to the reserve capital and another 30% – in other funds of the company.
“Today the state owns 65% of the company. “Kharkovenergosbyt” supplies electricity to 1.25 million household consumers. Despite the difficult situation in Kharkiv and constant enemy fire, during 2022 the company supplied 2,213.7 thousand megawatt-hours of electricity to consumers,” – said the FGIU.
At the same time, because of late payments by consumers for electricity at the plant at the beginning of 2023, there were receivables of 3.46 billion UAH. In addition to the population among the largest debtors are utilities Kharkivvodokanal, Zhilkomservis and Kharkiv Metro.
“These debts prevent Kharkivenergosbyt to pay for electricity on time further down the chain. Therefore now the company together with the SPFU is working on an action plan that will change the situation for the better, “- summed up in the Fund.
The state, represented by the SPFU, owns 65% of PJSC Kharkivenergosbyt. Another 29.79% of shares were owned by Smart Holding of Vadim Novinsky.
In mid-January 2023, Smart Holding announced a change of ownership.
“As part of the restructuring, Smart Holding founder Vadim Novinsky decided to transfer the assets to a trust. Corresponding agreements Smart Trust and Step Trust were concluded in November 2022 and registered by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission,” – said in a message on the website of the holding.
Mining and Metallurgical Group Metinvest intends to participate in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine together with the Ukrainian government and Italian business, the company’s CEO Yuri Ryzhenkov said at the April 26 conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine held in Rome with the participation of Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal and Italian Council of Ministers Chairman Giorgi Meloni.
According to a press release Friday, during the discussion, Denis Shmygal noted that Ukraine looks forward to Italy’s participation in joint infrastructure, logistics, manufacturing and commercial projects to restore Ukraine from the effects of the war.
“The hundreds of Italian and Ukrainian companies, businesses, associations that are here today are a signal that we have a common interest in the reconstruction projects that, in particular, the president of Ukraine described today. We invite Italian companies to invest in Ukraine and implement reconstruction projects today”, – he said.
The Prime Minister added that Ukraine counts on 1 billion euros from the Italian agency SACE to urgently finance the reconstruction of energy, housing, humanitarian demining, critical and social infrastructure, support for small and medium businesses.
In his turn Yuriy Ryzhenkov said at the specialized metallurgical panel during the conference that Metinvest as a potential steel supplier considers the issues of strategic partnership with Italian companies in Ukraine. In particular, we are talking about cooperation in transport infrastructure (roads, bridges, seaports), energy infrastructure (production and supply of energy), social infrastructure (schools, hospitals, other public institutions).
“Ukraine has lost production of rails and slabs because of the destroyed factories in Mariupol. On the one hand, this is a problem because Italy was a major consumer of Ukrainian slabs. But on the other hand, it is an opportunity for Ukraine’s recovery, as these are the most obvious areas that require investment. One of the first drafts of Ukraine recovery plan, published last year, already contains initiatives in which Italian business may take part. And this is where Metinvest is ready to cooperate with it to implement the plan for Ukraine’s recovery,” the top manager, as quoted by the press service, stressed.
Moreover, Metinvest, in partnership with Italian companies, seeks to improve the technological level of metallurgical production in Ukraine and become part of the green transformation of the European industry. In particular, the matter concerns expansion of DR-okatysh production, the basic raw material for more environmentally friendly metallurgical production with the usage of electric arc furnaces. “Metinvest is considering a partnership with DRI d’Italia, a joint project of InvItalia and CEIP Scarl, a consortium of electric arc furnace steel producers.
However participation in these projects will require additional investments in production capacities. For example, modernization of some of the enterprises and construction of new facilities will require about $6 billion according to the National Recovery Plan developed and presented in mid-2022. Promising investment projects include modernization of iron ore processing technology and construction of DR-forming lines, construction of electric arc furnace facilities and new rolling mills.
In his speech at the conference, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine has significant potential for the development of green metallurgy. “From iron ore to lithium and other resources that are in maximum demand by the world – all of it is Ukraine. From natural gas to titanium… We can give – and we will! – all that to global markets. In many ways we can replace companies from Russia – those who have chosen to work for war rather than for global development,” he said.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical enterprises. Its enterprises are located in Ukraine – in Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Dnipropetrovsk regions, as well as in European countries.
The major shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%) that manage it together.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest group.
Hotel operator Ribas Hotels Group (Odessa) plans to buy income-generating assets in 10 hotel complexes managed by the company, five investment projects under construction in partnership with developers.
“In 2023 and 2024 we plan to acquire income assets to the amount of 7 million c.u. in more than 10 projects managed by Ribas Hotels Group. The hotel and restaurant complexes that will be part of the portfolio are located in Lviv and the region, as well as in Ivano-Frankivsk and Transcarpathian regions. These are mostly resort areas, which are busy all year round”, – the company told Interfax-Ukraine Agency.
Five investment projects are being built in partnership with developers: WOL.GREEN Polyana in Polyana village (Zakarpattya region), Agate Resort & SPA and Morion in Mikulichin village, AMA Family Resort and Ribas Villas in Polyanitsa village (all in Ivano-Frankivsk region). The facilities are to be opened within 2023-2024, with payback period of 10 years, the company specified.
According to the terms of Ribas Invest’s investment program, the entry threshold is 10 thousand c.u., and the company expects an annual yield of 9-12% with capitalization of 5-10%. The company expects that Ukrainians will be interested in investing in income real estate first of all.
“Investing in real estate in installments and with the entry threshold of 10 thousand USD opens up the possibility for hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to invest in a reliable company and profitable property. For foreigners it’s rather an investment in charity or high-risk asset, which can become very profitable “- believe in Ribas.
Ribas Hotels Group cooperates (management and reservation) with 26 hotel and restaurant properties (city, beach and ski hotels). Company portfolio includes ski hotel Ribas Karpaty (Bukovel, Ivano-Frankivsk Region), 5-star Ribas Duke Boutique Hotel (Odessa), aparthotel Wol.121 by Ribas (Odessa), business hotels brand Ribas Rooms (Odessa, Lutsk, White Church), city hotel Bortoli by Ribas (Odessa) and others. Hotels in Lviv, Kiev, Ivano-Frankivsk and other cities of Ukraine, as well as in Poland, Italy, Yerevan and Cyprus are at design and construction stage.
The total room inventory of the network is more than 1 thousand rooms in different forms of cooperation in eight cities and resort locations in Ukraine.
