European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson says the European Union is ready to completely stop the transit of Russian gas through the Ukrainian gas transportation system after the expiration of the current contract in December this year.
“When I spoke with my colleagues in Ukraine, I made it clear that we are preparing for a situation where the transit agreement between Ukraine and Russia will expire by the end of this December. We have found alternative supply routes, and the Member States or their companies that are still receiving gas from Russia have in fact been granted two additional years compared to other companies that Russia has decided to stop supplying to in 2022,” the European Commissioner said at a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday.
At the same time, Simson stated that Ukraine’s gas transportation infrastructure is also part of the EU’s infrastructure, as part of the European gas is stored in Ukraine’s storage facilities, “which provide us with additional capacity.”
“Ukraine is also a gas producer, so we have to make sure that their infrastructure still has value. But my message is very clear: there is no need to look for any new ways to continue trading with Gazprom. Alternative supplies are available, and we are engaging with affected member states to show them that alternative routes will deliver the volumes they need,” she elaborated.
Simson also referred to the words of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said in late August that “Ukraine is not interested in extending the transit contract with Russia, and that European companies have the right to use Ukrainian infrastructure.”
According to the European Commissioner, her “main mission is to encourage companies that are still receiving Russian pipeline gas because they had contracts signed before the war to choose more predictable alternatives.”
Simson also cited figures showing that the share of Russian gas in EU imports fell from 45% in 2021 to 18% by June 2024, while imports from reliable partners such as Norway and the United States increased. In addition, the EU reduced gas demand by 138 billion cubic meters between August 2022 and May 2024.
“The EU reached its 90% winter gas storage target on August 19, 2024, well ahead of the November 1 deadline, and energy prices are more stable and remain well below the peak levels of the 2022 energy crisis,” she elaborated.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has authorized the purchase and transfer of foreign currency by resident legal entities that are e-commerce entities abroad to pay value added tax (VAT) on the purchase of goods from domestic producers by consumers from EU countries.
“The condition for these transactions is that the e-commerce entity must be registered as a taxpayer in the EU. This mitigation will primarily support small and medium-sized businesses that will be able to promote their own goods on the EU market through trading platforms,” the central bank said in a press release on Monday.
The regulator assumes that this will not have a negative impact on international reserves, as the inflow of foreign currency to Ukraine for the goods sold will far exceed the additional demand for currency to pay VAT in the EU.
In addition, the NBU announced a number of other currency easing measures. In particular, the central bank allowed state-owned companies to buy and transfer foreign currency abroad to cover carbon dioxide emissions.
“State-owned enterprises will be able to buy foreign currency and transfer it to non-residents to purchase quotas to cover or compensate for carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions associated with aviation activities,” the National Bank explains.
According to the regulator, this step contributes to the continuity of defense procurement under state contracts, will allow for further air transportation abroad, and will support military-technical cooperation with the EU.
Other transactions that the NBU has authorized since September 10 include payments for operations under reinsurance agreements concluded with foreign nuclear insurance pools.
“In particular, to pay a break-even bonus, which is a mandatory condition stipulated by the reinsurance agreement. This mitigation will have a minor impact on international reserves and at the same time will allow the Nuclear Insurance Pool to fulfill its obligations to partners, which is important for the smooth operation of the industry,” the NBU said in a release.
As reported, the regulator also allowed Ukrainian businesses to reimburse coupon payments on Eurobonds paid from February 24, 2022, to July 9, 2024, at the expense of their own foreign currency accumulated in Ukraine.
At the same time, starting from September 10, the NBU introduced a limit of UAH 100 thousand per month for payments for watches, jewelry, precious stones and coins from currency cards of Ukrainian banks abroad and up to UAH 500 thousand per month for transactions with real estate agents.
All of the above innovations are introduced by Resolution No. 108 of September 6, 2024, which was officially promulgated on Monday, September 9.
The European Commission on Tuesday re-introduced tariff quotas on Ukrainian honey due to the excess of quota-free volumes of its supplies to the European market, according to a press release from the EC.
“From August 21 to June 5, 2025, imports of Ukrainian honey to the EU will be carried out under the tariff quota of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), which has been in force since 2016 between the two parties. The automatic re-introduction of this tariff quota is the result of the revised Autonomous Trade Measures (ATM), which are effective from June 6, 2024,” the statement said.
The EC recalled that the revision of these ATMs includes an emergency brake for seven agricultural products, which will be automatically triggered if imports reach the average annual imports recorded between July 1, 2021 and December 31, 2023. For honey, this average is 44.418 thousand tons.
The European Commission pointed out that, according to Article 4 of Regulation 2024/1392, after reaching these volumes, the EC has 14 days to reintroduce the relevant tariff quota from the DCFTA between the EU and Ukraine. Since the imports of honey from Ukraine have already exceeded the volumes established by this quota since the beginning of 2024, additional imports will be subject to most-favored-nation (MFN) duties. In particular, a new tariff quota will be introduced from January 1, 2025, until June 5, 2025, which will correspond to 5/12 of the threshold set for the emergency braking. For honey, the new quota will amount to 18,507 tons.
At the same time, the European Commission notes that imports of Ukrainian honey to the EU have been fairly stable over the past five years, averaging about 49 thousand tons per year.
As reported, the European Commission introduced quotas for the supply of eggs and sugar to the European Union from June 2, 2024 to June 5, 2025. For eggs, the new quota is set at 9,662 thousand tons, and for sugar – at 109,44 thousand tons.
According to Article 4(7) of the Regulation on autonomous trade measures applicable to Ukrainian products, Ukraine will be able to supply to the EU from June 6, 2024 to June 5, 2025 without paying any duty 57,101 thousand tons of poultry meat, 9,662 thousand tons of eggs, 109,439 thousand tons of sugar, 18,507 thousand tons of honey, 4.648 million tons of corn, 1,017 thousand tons of oats, and 8,603 thousand tons of cereals.
The European Union has allocated EUR2m for a new humanitarian demining program in Ukraine, under which Ukrainian cynologists with specially trained dogs will search for and clear unexploded ordnance, the press service of the EU Delegation in Ukraine has reported.
According to the report, the project is funded by the European Commission’s Foreign Policy Instruments Service (FPI) and is being implemented jointly with humanitarian mine action organizations APOPO, which specializes in the use of animals for demining, and Mines Advisory Group (MAG).
“The 16 Belgian Malinois will be the first technical reconnaissance dogs to be deployed in Ukraine. Together with their eight guides, all of whom are Ukrainians, they underwent extensive training in Cambodia for five months before returning to Ukraine,” the statement said.
The EU Delegation in Ukraine specified that many of the dog handlers had previously studied dog training at the Sumy National Agrarian University and were trained in manual demining.
The dogs will be used to complement the MAG’s manual and mechanized demining efforts in liberated Ukrainian territories, including in the Mykolaiv, Kherson and Kharkiv regions.
“We are pleased to be able to fund this initiative as part of the EU’s support to improve and scale up humanitarian mine action in Ukraine. We believe this innovative project can significantly accelerate the cleanup of contaminated land and its release for civilian use,” said FPI Director Peter M. Wagner.
Under certain conditions, teams of technical reconnaissance dogs can survey large tracts of land much faster than bomb squads, identifying explosive hazards and helping to confirm the safety of an area. If teams with dogs find a mine or unexploded ordnance, MAG deminers will be tasked to defuse the item, the EU Delegation to Ukraine explained.
MAG Ukraine Director John Cunliffe believes that dogs have the potential to significantly speed up the cleanup of certain types of terrain and contamination. “They can be a really important tool in combination with traditional manual and mechanized demining teams,” he added.
“The EU commitment will allow us to return supposedly contaminated land to the Ukrainian people much more quickly than would otherwise be the case. We will be recruiting and training new handlers in the coming months as we scale up our operations,” said APOPO Ukraine Program Manager Nick Gest.
The European Commission’s Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) service implements the EU’s foreign policy. Humanitarian mine action is a key element of the support FPI has mobilized for Ukraine since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. Its total funding to date amounts to EUR55 million.
APOPO is a global provider of mine detection animals that has developed effective mine clearance technology that is implemented in low-income countries. The organization protects people from the risk of landmines and other consequences of war. APOPO employs more than 450 people in 10 countries.
The European Union (EU) will change the rules of entry and exit in the fall: citizens of non-EU countries will be required to register their fingerprints and facial images at the border.
As reported by the MAPA public union on Monday, the relevant changes were discussed at a meeting between representatives of the Transport Community and representatives of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency at the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine.
The changes will affect transportation and travel to 30 European countries, the statement said.
“The first change concerns the introduction of the entry-exit system (EES). From now on, all non-EU citizens will be required to register their fingerprints and facial images at the border. This process will begin in the fall of this year,” MAPA said.
Another change will take effect from mid-2025: travelers will have to submit an online application to the European Travel Authorization Information System (ETIAS) before starting their trip and pay a EUR7 fee.
MAPA clarified that in connection with these innovations, transport companies will have to make changes to their booking, document verification, passenger check-in systems and adapt their operating procedures.
A EUR100 million grant agreement has been signed by Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, Chairman of the Board of NPC Ukrenergo, and Lorenz Gessner, Head of the Representative Office of the German state development bank KfW in Ukraine, the company said.
According to its Telegram post on Friday, the signing took place in Kyiv on Thursday in the presence of Deputy Energy Minister Roman Andarak and members of the EU Delegation to Ukraine.
It is noted that the European Commission has authorized KfW to provide Ukrenergo with funds from the EU’s special budget program Ukraine Investment Facility and to ensure the financing and implementation of a number of priority energy projects.
These include the modernization of high-voltage substations in the western regions of Ukraine and the development of interconnectors connecting it to the power system of continental Europe, as well as the repair and restoration of equipment destroyed or damaged by Russian shelling at high-voltage substations, and the purchase and supply of new equipment.
In addition, part of the funds should be used to strengthen the physical protection of Ukrenergo’s substations.
NPC noted that this grant is the second phase of the target program “Reconstruction and Restoration of Ukraine’s Electricity Transmission Infrastructure”, as the company signed an agreement with KfW on the first phase of the program worth EUR 15 million at the Berlin Conference on the Restoration of Ukraine-2024 in June.
In total, since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukrenergo has attracted EUR324 million with the support of KfW, and the total amount of international assistance attracted amounted to EUR1.5 billion, the NPC summarized.
