Electricity exports from Ukraine on September 14–20 decreased by 17.3% compared to the previous week, to 109.3 thousand MWh, while imports increased by 12.2%—to 18.6 thousand MWh.
“Overall, electricity sales were nearly six times higher than purchases,” the DIXI Group analytical center reported on Wednesday, citing data from Energy Map.
As the center noted, weather conditions had the greatest impact on electricity trade during the reporting period. A cloudy start to the week, combined with a gradual seasonal decline in solar power generation, reduced the daytime power surplus, and the largest decline in exports occurred during daylight hours. At the same time, comfortable temperatures, mostly without precipitation, did not create peak loads on the power grid. Industrial consumption remained low due to Russian attacks.
According to Energy Map, Hungary accounted for the largest share of last week’s exports—53.8 thousand MWh, or 49.2%. Moldova accounted for 36,2 thousand MWh (33.1%), Romania for 19,0 thousand MWh (17.4%), and Poland for 0,3 thousand MWh (0.3%).
Compared to the previous week, exports declined across all destinations: to Poland by 72% (due to insignificant supply volumes), to Romania by 28%, to Moldova by 22%, and to Hungary by 8%. Exports to Slovakia remained at zero.
Hungary also remained the main source of imports, accounting for 8,900 MWh (47.8%). Poland accounted for 5,900 MWh (31.4%), Romania for 3,800 MWh (20.6%), and Moldova for 0.04 thousand MWh (0.2%).
As previously reported, in August 2026, electricity imports to Ukraine increased by 5% compared to July—to 184,000 MWh—while exports jumped by 63.8% to 380,900 MWh, marking the highest monthly export volume since September 2025. As a result, Ukraine maintained its status as a net exporter for the second consecutive month: sales exceeded purchases by nearly double.
The energy shock caused by the U.S.-Iran war is likely to last longer than previously anticipated and extend beyond the oil sector, said Isabel Schnabel, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB).
“At first, one might have assumed this was a short-term phenomenon, but, unfortunately, we have had to conclude that it is much more persistent,” Schnabel said at an event in Salsomaggiore Terme, Italy, on Thursday. “We’re not just talking about oil, but also diesel and natural gas.”
Her remarks reflect the ECB leadership’s ongoing concern about the consequences of the Middle East conflict, which has already caused inflation in the region to accelerate to a level significantly above the 2% target.
The year-over-year rate of consumer price inflation in the eurozone reached 3.2% in August, and analysts do not rule out it rising to 4% later this year, according to Bloomberg.
Expectations for further tightening of the ECB’s monetary policy have recently increased, with traders factoring in the likelihood of four interest rate hikes of 25 basis points (bp) by the regulator by the end of 2027.
“We’ve raised interest rates twice this year—first in June, then again in September—because we’re concerned about inflation. That’s why we had to act,” Schnabel said on Thursday.
The ECB raised all three key interest rates by 25 bps at its September meeting; the deposit rate now stands at 2.5% per annum.
According to the Serbian business publication Parametar, the Serbian oil and gas company NIS has submitted a new request to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury for a special license that would allow the company to continue its operations beyond September 30. The current license expires on that very day.
NIS emphasizes that the company’s uninterrupted operations, the stable operation of the oil refinery in Pančevo, and the regular supply of petroleum products to the Serbian market are crucial for the country’s energy stability.
U.S. sanctions against NIS were imposed in early 2025 due to Russian ownership stakes in the company. Since then, OFAC has repeatedly issued temporary licenses allowing NIS to continue its operations.
At the same time, the process of restructuring NIS’s ownership continues. Hungary’s MOL is in negotiations with Gazprom Neft regarding the acquisition of a 56.15% stake in NIS. In June, the Serbian government and MOL already signed a shareholders’ agreement outlining the future governance model for the company should the deal be finalized.
To finalize the deal, not only is a purchase and sale agreement between MOL and Gazprom Neft required, but also additional approvals from regulatory authorities, primarily OFAC. Serbia has also agreed to the possibility of increasing its stake in NIS by another 5 percentage points.
Serbian authorities had previously reported that a company from the UAE might also participate in the future structure of the deal. This refers to the possible entry of a Middle Eastern investor into NIS’s capital following the completion of the deal with MOL.
As of June 30, 2026, Gazprom Neft owned 44.85% of NIS, the Republic of Serbia owned 29.87%, and another 11.3% was held by JSC Intelligence. The remaining shares are held by minority investors.
NIS remains Serbia’s key oil company. It owns an oil refinery in Pančevo, and the company’s network of gas stations also operates in neighboring countries in the region.
Currently, the main question for the Serbian energy market is whether OFAC will extend the license before the current permit expires on September 30, while negotiations regarding the change in NIS ownership are still ongoing.
The Turkish company ASTOR Enerji A.Ş., which specializes in electrical equipment manufacturing, plans to implement a project worth up to $200 million in the Kyiv region, which will involve the production of energy storage systems and transformers, according to the Kyiv Regional Development Agency.
“The company is considering investing up to $200 million in the creation of a modern manufacturing complex in the Kyiv region. The project involves the production of energy storage systems, battery solutions, electrical equipment, and transformers,” the agency stated in a post on LinkedIn on Tuesday.
It notes that a corresponding memorandum with ASTOR Enerji A.Ş. was signed by the Kyiv Regional Military Administration with the agency’s support during the Carpathian Eight Summit.
The agency notes that for the Kyiv region, the implementation of such a project will mean the creation of new production capacity and jobs, further industrial development, the introduction of advanced technologies, and enhanced energy resilience.
It explained that it will continue to support the project through the next stages: from selecting potential investment sites and engaging with local communities to coordinating further steps with the investor.
More than half of the new enforcement proceedings regarding wage arrears in Ukraine during the first eight months of 2026 were concentrated in just two sectors—electricity and gas supply, and chemical production.
According to OpenDataBot, 1,545 enforcement proceedings were initiated against companies in the electricity and gas supply sector from January through August, accounting for about one-third of all new cases involving wage arrears.
Another 989 proceedings, or 21%, were initiated against chemical manufacturers.
Thus, these two sectors together accounted for about 55% of all new enforcement proceedings related to wage arrears in the country.
The next sector by number of proceedings was the manufacture of other transportation equipment, with 263 cases. Machinery manufacturing companies accounted for 235 proceedings, and electrical equipment manufacturers for 191.
In total, 4,621 new enforcement proceedings regarding wage arrears were registered in Ukraine from January through August 2026, which is 16% fewer than a year earlier.
The high concentration of debt in the energy and chemical industries is linked, in particular, to the presence in these sectors of large enterprises with complex financial situations and significant accumulated debt to employees.
In particular, among the companies with a large number of new enforcement proceedings in 2026 are Sumykhimprom, the Odesa Port Plant, Karpatnaftochim, and Dniproazot.
Source: OpenDataBot, Unified Register of Debtors.
Hungary plans to meet the country’s natural gas needs without supplies from Russia by October 2027, said István Kapitány, the country’s Minister of Economy and Energy.
“If everything goes as we expect, Hungary’s gas supply will be secured from other, non-Russian sources by the deadline set by the European Union in October of next year,” the minister said in an interview with Telex published on September 18.
According to Kapitány, Hungary’s high dependence on Russian gas did not arise from a lack of technical capacity to purchase fuel from other countries. Hungary is connected by gas pipelines to several neighboring countries, and the Russian supply system was used for a long time primarily because it was considered the most cost-effective option. The minister did not specify by how much the share of Russian gas has already decreased in recent months.
The deadline is directly linked to new EU regulations. EU Regulation 2026/261 provides for the cessation of imports of Russian pipeline gas under long-term contracts after September 30, 2027. In exceptional cases, if a country is unable to ensure the required level of storage filling, the deadline may be extended to November 1, 2027.
For Hungary, the transition is particularly significant, as the state-owned MVM maintains a long-term contract with Gazprom Export for approximately 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The contract originally runs through 2036; however, MVM’s own documents note that the European ban will effectively prevent the use of Russian long-term supplies after the fall of 2027. The company is already expanding its portfolio of alternative gas sources.
LNG is becoming one of the key areas of focus. MVM ONEnergy has signed a five-year contract with the U.S.-based Chevron for approximately 2 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas. Deliveries under this contract are scheduled to begin on October 1, 2027, immediately after EU restrictions on Russian pipeline gas take effect.
In addition, MVM has reached an agreement with Azerbaijan’s SOCAR for the supply of 800 million cubic meters of gas over a two-year period starting in 2026.
Romania is emerging as another potential source. The development of the Neptun Deep field in Romania’s sector of the Black Sea is expected to begin production in 2027. Once it reaches full capacity, it is projected to supply approximately 8 billion cubic meters of gas per year, which will create additional opportunities for deliveries to Central Europe, including Hungary.
Thus, Captain’s statement signals a significant shift in Hungarian energy policy: Budapest, which in previous years had opposed an accelerated phase-out of Russian fuel, is now preparing its gas supply balance to meet EU requirements by the fall of 2027. At the same time, the minister emphasized that the country has sufficient gas supplies for the current heating season and that the authorities do not anticipate any problems with the physical availability of fuel.
