Belarus will export about 2 billion kWh of electricity in 2019, which is almost two times more than in 2018, Deputy Minister of Energy of Belarus Vadim Zakrevsky told reporters in Minsk on Wednesday. “According to the results of the year, the total volume of electricity export can reach 2 billion kWh. In the past, it was about 1 billion kWh. Export could theoretically grow up to 4 billion kWh,” Zakrevsky said.
According to him, this year electricity is exported to the Baltic countries and Ukraine. At the same time, the deputy minister said that Ukraine is a premium market for Belarus in comparison with the Baltic. “The advantage of the benefits in supplying electricity to Ukraine compared to the Baltic is enormous. It is 80 to 20. Now there is such a price for Belarusian energy that it is beneficial for Ukrainians. Belarus does not dump and sells with profit,” the deputy minister said.
Ukraine and Belarus are discussing building new interstate power lines and DC links for existing power lines, the press service of the Ministry of Energy and Environment Protection said after a meeting of the Ukrainian-Belarusian group for cooperation in the fuel and energy sphere. “At the meeting, the issue of building new electric power lines between the neighboring states was discussed. It was about the line between Rivne and Brest regions (Belarus). The issue of building DC links on the existing 330 kV overhead lines between the Belarusian unified power grid and the Ukrainian unified power grid was discussed: Mozyr-Chornobyl NPP and Gomel-Chernihiv,” the press service said.
Minister of Energy and Environment Protection Oleksiy Orzhel said that cooperation between the states in the field of electricity is one of the priority issues in the energy sector.
“Electricity is among the priority issues. Next February, Belarus NPP should start working. There may be an excess of electricity in which we are interested. Although, of course, the capacity of the interstate lines for electricity exchange must be taken into account,” the press service said, citing the minister as saying.
Also during the meeting, the issue of power supply to the border areas was raised, in particular, the involvement of 0.4-110 kV interstate power transmission lines in order to ensure supplies to the border areas under contracts between Belenergo and D.Trading LLC.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that trade between Ukraine and Belarus should exceed $6 billion.
“Trade between our countries exceeds $5 billion. I agree with Alexander Grigoryevich [Lukashenko] that we could and should achieve six, eight – we don’t want to stop – billion dollars,” he said at the Second Forum of Regions of Ukraine and Belarus in Zhytomyr on Friday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed the strengthening of Ukraine-Belarus relations at both central and regional levels, as well as that of ties between certain businesses in the two counties.
“A forum like this strengthens the partnership between our countries in all spheres. And, which is highly important, this is not only at the level of capitals – Kyiv and Minsk – but also at the level of our regions and individual businesses,” Zelensky said at the 2nd Forum of Regions of Ukraine and Belarus in Ukraine’s Zhytomyr on Friday.
Commercial contracts valued at $500 million have been signed during the forum, he said.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko believes that Ukraine and Belarus may jointly apply for hosting the Olympic Games in the future.
“The President of Ukraine offers us to think together about whether we can even apply for hosting the Olympic Games. We can do it, two countries can,” he said, speaking at the Second Forum of Regions of Ukraine and Belarus in Zhytomyr on Friday.
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has introduced amendments into Ukrainian law “On electricity power market” permitting to buy electric power under bilateral agreements of the countries, which are not the members of the Europe’s Energy Society.
A total of 265 parliamentarians voted for the bill No.1084 “On amendments into some legislative acts of Ukraine on nuclear power use” at a plenary sitting.
MP Andriy Gerus introduced an amendment to the law on electric power market in Part 8, of Article 67 that permits to sell electric power imported from the states non-members of the Energy Society on the day-ahead markets and on the balancing market.
