The National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission (NEURC) at a meeting on December 1 approved a plan for the development of the electricity distribution system for Ukrzaliznytsia for 2022-2026, which provides for an investment of UAH 2.9 billion.
According to the plan, 76% of the UAH 2.9 billion should be invested in construction, reconstruction and technical re-equipment of power grids and equipment.
The main consumer of electricity, which is transmitted by the grids of Ukrzaliznytsia, as the operator of the distribution system, is transport. Over the past four years, the share of transport in the total structure of electricity consumption transmitted through the distribution system of the company was 80-83%.
Ukrzaliznytsia predicts an overall growth in demand for electricity in the next five years at the level of 0.45% annually.
At present, the total installed capacity of renewable energy installations (RES) connected to the grids of Ukrzaliznytsia is 143.35 MW.
According to the issued technical specifications, it is necessary to connect renewable energy generation facilities for another 301.93 MW to the distribution system of the company.
As reported, on September 30 Ukrzaliznytsia bought more than 4.9 million MWh of electricity at an auction from Energoatom state enterprise at a price of UAH 1,105/MWh, which the company should receive by the end of 2022 and use exclusively for its own needs.
China’s Beijing Skyrizon Aviation Industry Investment Co. has filed a lawsuit against Ukraine in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, demanding %4.5 billion in compensation for the violation, in its opinion, of the Sino-Ukrainian intergovernmental agreement of October 1992 on protection of the company’s investment in Motor-Sich shares, the Chinese publication Global Times reported, with reference to Skyrizon.“Chinese investors have suffered significant losses both in Ukraine and in China due to five years of unfair treatment and continued use of illegal measures in Ukraine,” the newspaper reports.At the same time, information about the claim is not yet available on the website of the Hague Arbitration.Earlier it was reported that Skyrizon and other Chinese investors in Motor-Sich shares notified Ukraine of their intention to submit to international arbitration in early September 2020, and sent a direct request to the court in early December as there was no compromise with Kyiv. The initial amount of claims was %3.5 billion. The interests of the Chinese plaintiffs were represented by the international law firms WilmerHale, DLA Piper and Bird & Bird.PJSC Motor-Sich is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of engines for aviation equipment, as well as industrial gas turbine units. It supplies products to more than 100 countries around the world. Last year, Motor-Sich received UAH 906.65 million in net profit against UAH 703.18 million in net loss in the previous year. The company’s revenue increased by 14.1% – up to UAH 11.432 billion.According to a source in the Ukrainian government, currently about 75% of Motor-Sich’s shares are already owned by a group of Chinese owners, and some part of the disputed block of shares acts as a pledge for financing provided, among other things, by China Development Bank.
Ukraine intends to retain the half of $2.7 billion received in August 2021 from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during SDR distribution as a buffer against future risks, according to the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies of Ukraine signed with the IMF, published by the IMF and the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.”While the deficit has remained in check, given large gross external financing needs including a significant amount of debt maturing that was issued at concessional rates, we have used about half of the recent general SDR allocation,” the government said in the memo. The government said that this will help to buttress our external stability objectives.
Kovalska Industrial and Construction Group has invested UAH 200 million in lime burning capacities, the press service of the group told Interfax-Ukraine.The company said that lime kilns were built in Rozvadiv, Lviv region. They will work 24/7, which will create additional 50 jobs. The new lime kilns will be part of the production complex, investments in which have already amounted to EUR 45 million.“We started the creation of a production cluster in Rozvadiv in 2020. It will include a quarry for extraction of high-quality sand, a plant for production of aerated concrete blocks, a plant for production of dry mixes and facilities for burning lime. This will create additional jobs and give additional acceleration to the economy of the entire country,” Director General of Kovalska Group Serhiy Pylypenko said.As reported, in 2020, Kovalska Group acquired an industrial complex with an area of 140 hectares in Rozvadiv, Lviv region. It includes: sand and limestone quarries, shaft kilns for calcining lime, a workshop for production of mineral powder and a plant for production of silicate bricks. Now in Rozvadiv, Lviv region, the construction of a plant for production of dry building mixtures of the Siltek brand is underway. The production capacity of the enterprise will be 150,000 tonnes of mixtures per year.Kovalska Industrial And Construction Group has been operating in the construction market of Ukraine since 1956. It is a leading manufacturer of construction materials, developer and builder of the country.
Investment in physical capital and infrastructure without sufficient investment in human capital may not give Ukraine the expected dividends, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bjerde has said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Bjerde welcomed the fact that policymakers have identified priority areas and recognized the need to mobilize investment. She said this, commenting on the government’s intention to stimulate investment in “growth points” – priority sectors.
She emphasized one important aspect that has not been particularly highlighted in the government’s plans – the importance of human capital. Education, skills, experience, innovation and public health together is, according to a study, the most important resource for sustainable economic growth. This is glue that brings together other factors of production, including physical capital and infrastructure, she added.
As reported, the government has identified five priority clusters that can have the highest multiplier effect for Ukraine: technological production, energy security, life safety, transport and the City of Craftsmen, or the development of local, unique industries. According to the government, stimulating these “growth points” with investments in the amount of $1 billion will give the highest multiplier effect and will lead to economic growth by 1-2% of GDP.
Qatar seeks a sustainable investment partnership with Ukraine, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Acting Minister of Finance of Qatar H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari said during the second meeting of the joint commission on economic, trade and technical cooperation between the two countries.
“In August 2020, the Qatari company QTerminals signed an agreement with the Ukrainian side on the concession for Olvia seaport in Mykolaiv. In the next five years, it is planned to invest in the development of the Ukrainian port and infrastructure. We will continue to expand the investment partnership,” he said.
“Today’s meeting of the commission is a necessary tool to achieve this goal,” he added.
Following the meeting, the co-chairs of the commission namely Minister of Commerce and Industry of Qatar H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari and Ukrainian Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko signed a protocol on amending the agreement between the governments of Ukraine and Qatar on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion in relation to income tax.
The parties also discussed further steps in the development of bilateral relations and defined promising areas of cooperation, in particular, attracting investments, developing entrepreneurship and cooperation in tourism, agriculture, infrastructure, energy, health care, and financial sector, the report said.
“The meeting reaffirmed the desire of the two states to intensify economic activity. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing an upward trend in bilateral trade and hope to continue this positive trend. One of our top priorities is to attract investment in the economies of the two countries and strengthen business cooperation,” Marchenko said.
The Ministry of Finance recalled the first meeting of the joint commission on cooperation between Ukraine and Qatar took place in 2018.
