During the Ukrainian-Moldovan political consultations, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar and State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova Dumitru Sokolan discussed the status of implementation of the agreements reached during the visit of President of Moldova Maia Sandu to Kyiv in January 2021.
“The parties ‘synchronized watches’ regarding the nearest political contacts at the highest and high levels. Vasyl Bodnar informed about the preparations for the inaugural summit of the Crimean platform and the celebrations on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the restoration of Ukraine’s independence on August 23-24,” the statement on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website said on Thursday, March 25.
It is reported that considerable attention was paid to the implementation of cross-border infrastructure projects, primarily the construction of a bridge across the river Dniester in the area of Yampil-Koseuts settlements, the parties positively noted the progress in this case.
“Bodnar and Sokolan emphasized the importance of an early resumption of negotiations between the authorized authorities in order to resolve the entire range of issues related to the functioning of the Dniester hydroelectric complex, as well as to complete the process of demarcation of the Ukrainian-Moldovan border,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The parties checked their positions on expanding the legal framework between the two states in various fields.
A separate topic of the consultations was regional security issues, in particular the threats associated with the presence of Russian military units in the Transnistrian region of Moldova.
The Deputy Minister said that Ukraine is determined to continue supporting territorial integrity and sovereignty of Moldova within the internationally recognized borders, as well as to be an active participant in the negotiation process on the Transnistrian settlement.
“We regard the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of the Transnistrian region of Moldova as a matter of national and regional security,” the ministry’s press service quoted Bodnar as saying.
The parties discussed steps to strengthen bilateral trade and economic cooperation and implement energy projects.
In addition, it is reported that in context of humanitarian cooperation development, Bodnar asked to accelerate the ratification by the Moldovan side of the agreement signed on December 17, 2009 between Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova on cooperation in ensuring the rights of persons belonging to national minorities (Ukraine ratified it on October 5, 2010).
The parties discussed ways to deepen cooperation with the EU in context of implementation of the two countries’ course towards European integration. The diplomats also exchanged views on the efforts of the governments of Ukraine and Moldova to counter the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Ukraine and Qatar intend to discuss opportunities for developing relations in the energy and agricultural sectors, as well as in military-technical cooperation and investments, Ukraine’s Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko said following an online conference with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Qatar to Ukraine Hadi Nasser Al-Hajri.
“Soon, as the head of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Trade and Technical Cooperation between the government of Ukraine and the State of Qatar, I will initiate a discussion of new opportunities for the development of relations between our countries,” Marchenko said.
“In particular, we’ll pay attention to the energy and agricultural sectors, military-technical cooperation, investments,” the minister stressed.
PrJSC Dniprovsky Metallurgical Plant (DMZ, formerly Evraz-DMZ), a member of DCH Steel of DCH Group of businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, will allocate more than UAH 15 million for the implementation of the energy saving program in 2020-2021.
According to a press release from the company, major repairs were carried out last year on the combustion plugs of excess blast furnace and coke oven gas, thus avoiding energy leaks. To date, the work on replacing outdoor lighting on the territory of the enterprise has been practically completed.
In rolling shop No. 2, seven frequency converters were installed on the fans for blowing off the electric motors of stands Nos. 1-8, about 70 lamps were replaced with energy saving ones in three spans. The lighting on conveyors S-4 and U-1 of the coke plant was also replaced.
“The modernization of lighting will significantly reduce energy consumption. In addition, working conditions will improve, as the illumination from LED lamps is much higher,” the press release said.
The plant specializes in production of steel, pig iron, rolled products and coke.
On March 1, 2018, DCH Group signed an agreement on the purchase of Dniprovsky Metallurgical Plant from Evraz.
An overstated tariff for energy from renewable sources (RES) in comparison with the market rate leads to significant and problematic payments to investors for Ukraine, which are estimated at $ 10-20 billion until 2029, acting Energy Minister Yuriy Vitrenko has said.
“If to look at the difference between the feed-in tariff and the market price, at least now, and multiply this by conservative estimates of production from renewable sources and multiply this by the term of the feed-in tariff – until 2029, then the amount of compensation from the state budget to investors in green energy will be from $ 10 billion to $ 20 billion,” he said while discussing the economic strategy until 2030.
Vitrenko noted that the feed-in tariff is several times higher than the market price.
“For a developing country like Ukraine, $ 10-20 billion is a significant amount, which is a problem,” he stressed.
The minister also criticized the current system of payments through the energy system operator Ukrenergo, which has no interest in paying for renewable energy sources, since their uneven generation brings it additional problems. According to Vitrenko, such payments should be made through the state budget as a public good in the form of clean energy.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez discussed areas of cooperation between the countries, including energy, infrastructure, digitalization and cybersecurity.
“Energy, infrastructure, digitalization, cybersecurity – there are many areas in Ukraine for cooperation with Spain. I am glad to speak with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, our mutual understanding is a step towards warm and effective relations between the two countries. I wish you health! I will be glad to see you in Ukraine!” Zelensky wrote on his Twitter page.
The interlocutors noted the importance of holding the fourth meeting of the Ukrainian-Spanish Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic and Industrial Cooperation this year in Kyiv, the presidential press service reported.
The leaders also discussed the development of trade and economic cooperation between the two states.
“Spain is one of Ukraine’s main trading partners in the European Union and maintains its position as Europe’s largest importer of Ukrainian grain. We are ready to continue being a reliable strategic supplier of grain products to Spain,” the Ukrainian President said.
The Spanish Prime Minister said that he would assist Ukraine in obtaining the vaccine both at the level of bilateral relations and at the EU level.
In addition, particular attention was paid to the signing of the Common Aviation Area Agreement between the European Union with Ukraine. “I am grateful to the Spanish party for its efforts and willingness to facilitate the signing of this long-awaited and mutually beneficial agreement. I expect a positive decision from the EU in the coming weeks,” Zelensky said.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is ready to provide funds to Ukraine to implement energy and energy saving projects if the risk factors can be controlled, Head of the EIB Resident Representation for Ukraine Jean-Erik de Zagon said.
He said that the EIB is ready to provide the funds if the Ukrainian government can convince the bank of the economic viability of the potential projects. .
He said at the 11th Energy Day organized by the European-Ukrainian Energy Agency on Thursday.
At the same time, the Head of the EIB Resident Representation in Ukraine said that the bank sees many opportunities for cooperation with the government of Ukraine, specifying that “the EIB in Ukraine has a portfolio totaling EUR 6.5 bln. It includes many project in energy sector, social and economic infrastructure, transport and connectivity, local private sector development, and innovation. ”
At the same time, according to de Zagon, with regard to international projects on energy efficiency, Europe highly values a clearly defined time frame for achieving climate change.
Speaking about projects that may be of interest to the bank in the future, he pointed out among the others the need to develop bioenergy. As for the diversification of projects, it is likely that biomass will deserve new attention. It is one of the decarbonization tools. It is challenging, but this is the need to process those resources that are raw materials for renewable energy in Ukraine, de Zagon said.
He also focused on that Ukraine has a good existing gas transmission system (GST). It offers a vast potential where development is most necessary by ensuring that the transmission system is supportive of renewable energy (like transport of hydrogen) the EIB representative said.
At the same time, he explained what donors pay attention to when making decisions on financing certain projects and what Ukraine needs to take into account and do in order to receive international funding. This is about the need to balance positions on the energy market and promote legislative initiatives so that legislation of Ukraine met European requirements and standards, he said.
As for the National Action Plan, the EIB is pleased to cooperate with the government of Ukraine in its implementation, de Zagon said.
