Ukraine on April 17, may start exporting electricity to Slovakia in the amount of 200 MW per hour, said NEC “Ukrenergo”.
According to its message in the Telegram channel on Saturday, the relevant auction for the allocation of capacity of interstate sections in the direction of Slovakia was held today for the delivery date of April 17.
The auction allocated 100 percent of the available capacity on that direction to four bidders.
According to Ukrenergo’s auction platform, DTEK Zakhidenergo (115-135 MW per hour), DE Trading (47-49 MW per hour, Le Trading Ukraine (5-20 MW per 18 hours), TES (20 MW per hour) shared all 200 MW of the section.
At the same time, for the first time since the opening of exports since April 11, the companies did not just book the section, but competed on the price for it. As a result, the minimum price per MWh was 307.5 UAH/MWh, while the maximum was 1.3 thou UAH/MWh.
In total, companies in 24 hours on Monday have to pay almost 3.4 million UAH for the cross-section to Poland.
At the same time, electricity exports to Moldova rose by 59.2% on Saturday to 1,777 MWh, and to Poland, after a two-day break, to 1,775 MWh per day, according to data on the website of the continental European Network of System Operators ENTSO-E.
According to the information on the website, supplies to Moldova will be carried out 18 hours a day with a minimum of 99 MW and a maximum of 130 MW, while supplies to Poland will be 75 MW at all hours, except for the first hour of the day, which was 50 MW.
As of April 15, 289-290 MW of the offered 650 MW of the hourly capacity of the section to Moldova were booked by 6 companies: Ukrhydroenergo PJSC (100 MW for each hour), D. Trading (99 MW per hour), Artlex Energy (40 MW per hour), DE Trading (30 MW per hour), ERU Trading (20 MW per hour) and EES (1 MW per 4 hours). The state energy trader “EKU”, which used to book 150 MW per hour for several days, did not participate in the auction this time.
As reported, exports to Moldova were 150 MWh on April 11, 497 MWh per day on April 12, 965 MWh on April 13 and 1116 MWh on April 14. Poland has so far only been supplied with 1,625 MWh on April 12. At that time, DTEK Zakhidenergo reserved all of the offered 75 MWh per hour.
After a break on April 13-14, this company booked the same capacity for April 15.
The Ministry of Energy resumed electricity exports by a decision of April 7, after which the NEC Ukrenergo began auctioning cross-section capacity for exports to Moldova and Poland, and decided to open exports to Slovakia.
The Ministry of Energy notes that the export will be carried out in conditions of a surplus of electric power and only if the priority of supplies to Ukrainian consumers is observed. Exports have been halted since October 11 after the start of massive attacks on the energy system.
The maximum throughput allowed by ENTSO-E for electricity exports to Europe is 400 MW. “Ukrenergo is working with its European colleagues on the possibility of increasing this volume.
Slovakia has suspended processing of a batch of Ukrainian wheat due to a high concentration of pesticides, acting Slovak Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlchan has said.
Vlchan recalled that back in July 2022, he ordered to strengthen controls over Ukrainian grain. “Even before we started sealing all transit trucks with Ukrainian grain, a relatively large sample of Ukrainian grain was intercepted, and three independent accredited laboratories confirmed the presence of increased pesticide residues in it,” Vlchan was quoted by SME.
The batch of Ukrainian grain, which contained high levels of pesticides, was processed at one of the largest mills in Slovakia. The remaining 1.5 thousand tons of grain from this batch will not be processed.
By the end of this week the Slovak authorities will receive the results of the inspection of the found wheat batch, and it will be clear whether pesticide residues in it can affect human health.
If Ukrainian grain were to enter Slovakia through an EU member state, such as Poland, the control system created would make it possible to trace the purchase, Vlchan said.
“So we are trying to find the source of such wheat. However, if the wheat has already been milled, for example in Poland, we can no longer trace it. At the same time, we conduct spot checks even for such imports (of flour),” the acting minister of agriculture added.
Vlchan urged grain processors to be careful when purchasing agricultural products from countries outside the EU, including those legally imported into Slovakia.
Leaders of five Central and Eastern European countries have urged the European Commission to take action in connection with a surplus of grain and other Ukrainian food on their territory, the Associated Press reported from Warsaw.
“We call on the European Commission to study the possibility of buying accumulated grain from EU member states bordering Ukraine for humanitarian needs,” reads a letter addressed to EC President Ursula von der Leyen on behalf of the prime ministers of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.
“We also reiterate our call for financial support from the EU to accelerate the development of transport infrastructure (for the export of grain – IF),” it says.
It is pointed out that such products remain on the shelves of these countries in excess, reducing prices, and do not reach the countries that are ready to buy them outside the EU.
The European Commission earlier said that it intended to quickly launch an assistance mechanism for countries that faced an influx of Ukrainian products.
Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob have arrived in Kiev, where they will participate in a summit to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Buča. Slovak Prime Minister Heger arrived in Ukraine on Friday and will meet with President Vladimir Zelenski, the Slovakian news agency TASR reported.
Along with Heger, Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nagy arrived in Ukraine. The time and place of the meeting are not disclosed in advance for security reasons.
According to Heger, Zelenski invited him to visit Ukraine in a telephone conversation after Slovakia approved the transfer of MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine.
For his part, Nagy is scheduled to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Alexey Reznikov during the day.
In addition, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic arrived in Kyiv on Friday morning. He is scheduled to meet with Zelensky, Prime Minister Denis Shmygal and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk. Also with the Croatian prime minister arrived Minister of Veterans Affairs Tomo Medved.
According to the Croatian government’s website, together with Zelenski, Heger, Golob and Moldovan President Maia Sandu, they will take part in a summit on “Bucha – Russian Responsibility for Crimes in Ukraine” in Kiev to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Bucha (Kiev region). A joint press conference will follow.
This is Plenkovic’s second visit to Ukraine since the Russian aggression began on February 24, 2022. Last May, he met with the Ukrainian leadership in Kiev and visited Irpen and Bucha.
The Slovenian newspaper Delo, for its part, reported on the arrival of Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob in Kiev on Friday. He also intends to meet with Zelenskyy.
For the Slovenian prime minister, this is his first visit to Ukraine since coming to power. His goal is to reaffirm his support for Ukraine, which has been a victim of Russian aggression since last February.
Golob will also be received by Shmygal and Stefančuk .
The ninth package of EU sanctions against Russia adopted on Friday allows Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia, which received a reprieve from the European Union’s oil embargo on Russian oil, to export oil products produced from it to Ukraine.
The EU Council resolution published in the EU Official Journal on December 16 says the decision “allows Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria to export to Ukraine certain refined products derived from Russian crude oil imported on the basis of the considered derogations (from the embargo – IF), including, if necessary, by transit through other member states.”
Another paragraph of the ruling allows Bulgaria to “export to third countries certain petroleum products derived from Russian crude oil imported on the basis of the derogations under consideration.
The publication attributes this to the need to “reduce environmental and safety risks, as such products cannot be safely stored in Bulgaria.
The document specifies that the respective annual exports should not exceed the average annual volume of exports of such products for the last five years.
Slovakia is ready, but has not yet sent MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, this issue was discussed in detail with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, said Slovak Foreign Minister Rastislav Kacher.
“We have not yet handed over the MIG-29s to you. But we are ready to do it. We are talking with our partners in NATO about how to do it. And today (Dec. 8) we had a very informative conversation with your president. My secretary of defense explained to your president how we can do this. And I think that in the coming weeks a Ukrainian delegation will come to Slovakia, and we will work together with our American friends to make this a reality,” Kacher told Interfax-Ukraine.
The foreign minister noted that on December 7 Slovakia approved “a couple of thousand missiles that are used for the MIG-29.” He also said that he discussed the issue of sending the planes with the president of Ukraine during a meeting.
“But we also discussed it at some length with President Zelensky, too. And I think I need to keep it a secret how it’s going to be done so as not to jeopardize it. But I will say that we had a very, very good exchange with President Zelensky today about how we’re going to do this. So I’m very optimistic, I think it will be done soon too, the planes will appear in Ukraine,” Kacher added.
