From June 30, Ukraine began exporting electricity to Romania at a capacity of 100 MW, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmygal announced.
“Today, from 1 a.m., such exports went towards Romania. The initial volume is 100 MW,” he wrote on his telegram channel on Thursday.
He noted that in the first day alone, the state-owned company Ukrenergo earned UAH 10 million by selling access to the interstate section for export, and potentially Ukraine could earn more than UAH 70 billion a year from this.
“The potential for the export of Ukrainian electricity to Europe is up to 2.5 GW. Under this scenario, the state will be able to receive more than UAH 70 billion a year,” Shmyhal said.
The prime minister stressed that the energy visa-free regime with the EU, which began in March this year, gives its very visible and practical result, and the energy sector will become one of the drivers for the recovery of the Ukrainian economy, as it has already become a driver for integration into the EU.
According to the data on the ENTSO-E website, physical exports from Ukraine to Romania are made on June 30 with a flat schedule of 100 MWh.
As reported, Ukrenergo earned more than UAH 10 million at the first auction for the sale of a section to Romania on June 30, and almost UAH 14 million at the second auction, on July 1. The section was divided respectively by 5 and 6 companies. A total of 8 and 10 companies participated in the auction, respectively.
Ukrainian and European energy systems have been operating synchronously since March 16. On June 27, Europe opened electricity exports from Ukraine, which was supposed to start on June 30.
Ukraine and Romania have agreed to strengthen cooperation in the Danube region and cooperation in the field of environmental protection, in particular, the countries are preparing to sign a bilateral agreement on the implementation of the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention).
The corresponding decision was made by Minister of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ruslan Strelets and Minister of Environment, Water and Forests of Romania Barna Tanczos during an online meeting on June 27, according to the website of the Ukrainian ministry.
The Ukrainian minister also spoke about the harm done to the environment since the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, and expressed hope for Romania’s support in recovering damages from the aggressor in the international court.
“About 260 cases of ecocide in the country and more than 2,000 cases of destruction of our ecosystems have already been recorded. The amount of damage exceeds UAH 200 billion. Such a war will definitely leave huge scars on the Ukrainian environment. Ukraine has joined the Life family, and we have great hopes that within the framework of the program, among other things, we will be able to restore our wildlife,” Strelets said.
He also recalled that Ukraine has introduced the EkoZahroza official application of the Ministry of Natural Resources, which allows every inhabitant of the planet to receive data around the clock on all changes in environmental indicators on the Ukrainian territory, including radiation pollution.
The Espoo Convention is an international agreement initiated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe that entered into force in 1997. According to the document, the procedure for assessing the environmental impact of potentially hazardous projects should be carried out not only within the state, but also in neighboring countries that may be affected by the impact of these facilities.
On June 24, Ukraine and the EU signed an agreement on joining the Life international environmental program, the budget of which for 2021-2027 for projects to protect the environment is EUR 5.43 billion.
Ukraine plans to develop the Open Border project at border crossings with Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova.
“We are also implementing similar projects to increase capacity at the borders with other Western neighbors. We are already negotiating to join the Open Border of Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova,” Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov was quoted as saying in a Facebook post on Monday.
As reported earlier, Ukraine and Poland doubled the throughput at the Krakovets-Korcheva checkpoint modernized as part of the Open Border project.
The Romanian Embassy in Ukraine has resumed work in Kyiv, Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said.
“Very glad to announce that starting today the Romanian Embassy in Kyiv has resumed its activity on the ground. Romania fully stands with its partner Ukraine in its bold fight for freedom!” Aurescu wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
Romania has announced a tender for the repair of a broad-gauge railway connecting its Danube river port of Galati and the Moldovan river port of Giurgiulesti in order to transport grain from Ukraine without changing the rolling stock, since exports from Ukrainian seaports are blocked by warships of the aggressor country of the Russian Federation.
On the relevant statement of the Minister of Transport of Romania, Sorin Grindeanu, MP of Ukraine Dmitry Solomchuk (Servant of the People faction) wrote on his Telegram channel on Monday.
“Romania plans to urgently repair the old broad-gauge railway connecting the port of Galati from Giurgiulesti, located across the border with Moldova, so that freight trains loaded with grain from Ukraine can reach the ships without wasting time changing wheels at the border. A tender has been announced,” the MP said. in the social network.
According to Solomchuk, the advantage of the port of Galati is the ability to load both river and sea vessels.
Transportation of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea remains the cheapest solution, despite the increase in the cost of ship insurance due to the Russian blockade of the Black Sea.
“Minister of Transport Sorin Grindeanu said that this Danube port, together with the port of Constanta, will become one of the key points in the region for the transport of goods and raw materials. Ukraine exports most of its grain to North Africa, and the Black Sea is the shortest route. Alternatives would be through the port Gdansk or Trieste, but the routes would be much longer,” the deputy summed up.
As reported, the Ukrainian and Romanian relevant ministries at the end of March began negotiations on the export of agricultural products from Ukraine through European seaports, including the Romanian port of Constanta.
The first cargo of Ukrainian corn weighing 71 thousand tons since the beginning of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine left the Black Sea port of Constanta on April 29 to the recipient.
The countries bordering Ukraine have responded to its problem with the export of agricultural products and have already significantly simplified the procedures for registering freight traffic or are actively working on it. In particular, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, as well as Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria, Georgia, Denmark, Greece, Austria introduced liberal conditions for Ukrainian carriers.
Before the Russian military invasion, Ukraine monthly exported about 5 million tons of agricultural products through the ports of Odessa and Nikolaev, but now, due to their naval blockade by the Russian Federation, it can transport about 500 thousand tons of grain monthly. This leads to a monthly shortfall of about $1.5 billion in export earnings for the country.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has discussed with Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă the possibility of expanding export and transit corridors through Romania, as well as using additional facilities of Romanian seaports.
“We discussed the possibility of expanding the already established export corridors, transit corridors through the territory of Romania, as well as using the additional capabilities of Romanian seaports and checkpoints between our countries,” Shmyhal said at a joint briefing with Ciucă on Tuesday evening.
The parties also discussed the process of restoring the settlements of Ukraine affected by the war, and also discussed the participation of Romania in such projects.
In addition, the prime ministers discussed cooperation between countries in the energy sector, economy, business and transit potential.
Among other things, he thanked Romania for launching and operating hubs on its territory for international technical and humanitarian support to Ukraine, as well as for helping displaced Ukrainian citizens.
In addition, Shmyhal said that the countries are working on a draft memorandum of cooperation to ensure the social protection of children who have suffered in war and armed conflicts.
Later, the press service of the government reported that at a meeting of the parties Shmyhal proposed to consider the possibility of opening the Diakivtsi (Ukraine) – Racovăț (Romania) checkpoint as soon as possible and further granting it the status of a checkpoint for cargo transportation to increase transit opportunities between Ukraine and Romania.
In addition, he noted the role of Romania in the international processes of condemnation and punishment of Russia for crimes against humanity and acts of genocide that continue on the territory of Ukraine.
In turn, the Prime Minister of Romania assured that they will continue to support Ukraine in its fight and will support the tightening of sanctions against the aggressor.
