The Norwegian company Scatec Solar has signed an agreement with the Dutch development bank FMO to sell it 40% in a project to build a solar power station with a capacity of 55 MW in Chyhyryn (Cherkasy region), Scatec Solar has reported. “We are pleased to announce this second equity co-investment with our long-term partner FMO. We are working with FMO as a debt and equity partner on a range of projects in Ukraine and internationally and we expect more cooperation in the years to come,” Raymond Carlsen, the CEO of Scatec Solar, said.
“After our first co-investment in the Kamianka solar plant, we are pleased to partner again with Scatec Solar. This second co-investment demonstrates to us the potential of renewable energy in Ukraine. Supporting Ukraine in transitioning to a low-carbon system, is aligned with our strategy to increase our green investments and mitigate climate change,” Linda Broekhuizen, Chief Investment Officer FMO, stated.
“The total investment for the project is estimated at EUR 54 million and is funded by non-recourse debt financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) and Swedfund. FMO’s equity stake is financed by the Access to Energy Fund, which FMO manages on behalf of the Dutch government,” Scatec Solar said.
The construction of the solar power station in Chyhyryn began in mid-2019. Commercial operation is expected in mid-2020. It is estimated that the station will annually produce about 65 GWh of electricity.
Prices for construction and assembly work in Ukraine in January-September 2019 increased by 7.8% compared with January-September 2018. According to the State Statistics Service, the indicators are given without taking into account the annexed territory of Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as part of the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
According to statistics, since the beginning of the year, prices have risen in all segments of construction. So, in residential construction the growth was 9.8%, in non-residential some 6.6%, and in engineering 7%.
In September 2019 from September 2018, the cost of construction work in residential construction rose by 6.4%, in non-residential by 1.9%, and in engineering by 3.1%.
In addition, the State Statistics Service said that in September compared with August, the cost of construction of residential buildings increased slightly by 0.3%, engineering structures by 3.1%, while non-residential decreased by 0.3%.
According to the report, in 2018 prices for construction work in Ukraine increased by 23% compared to the previous year, while in 2017 by 13.4%.
Ukraine and France have signed an intergovernmental agreement on the manufacture and technical maintenance of a batch of patrol boats, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said.
“On behalf of the Ukrainian government the agreement was signed with French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner (EUR 136.5 million) on the production and technical maintenance of 20 patrol boats. Five of them and all RIB-boats [rigid inflatable boats] will be built in Ukraine. We thanked France for the support in building up the maritime security and protection system,” Avakov wrote on Twitter.
France’s OCEA will manufacture the 32-meter-long patrol boats.
“Every fourth boat will be produced in Ukraine. We will thus protect the basins of our seas and owing to the production localization in Ukraine – provisionally, this will be one of the Mykolaiv-based plants – we will be able to restart the manufacture of boats with aluminum hulls. We hope that following this deal we will produce boats at the Mykolaiv plant on a permanent basis,” the press center of the Ukrainian State Border Service quoted the minister as saying.
Regal Petroleum plc, a British oil and gas company with assets in Ukraine, has previously agreed on the purchase of PrJSC Ukrnaftinvest scientific and production concern, which holds licenses for the development of Biloliska and Alibeisko-Trapivska oil and gas fields.
According to a statement on the London Stock Exchange’s website, the parties signed the memorandum on the purchase of Ukrnaftinvest, 50% in which is owned by each of Lidia Chernysh and Bolaso Investments Limited of Leonid Kozachenko, which foresees a deal worth up to $40 million.
As reported, in 2018 Regal increased its net profit by 23.6 times compared to 2017, to $54.3 million. The net profit indicator included, among other things, the restoration of the value of assets (in the amount of $36.1 million due to revaluation of the remaining reserves on MEX-GOL and SV deposits), impaired in the previous periods.
The majority shareholder of Regal, which owns 82.65%, is Pelidona Services Limited (Cyprus) from Smart-Holding Group of Vadim Novinsky. Another 6.95% stake is held by Pope Asset Management.
Ukraine and Turkey are planning to liberalize motor transportation services between the countries at the beginning of 2020, reads a post on the website of the Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine following a meeting between Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Krykliy and his Turkish counterpart Mehmet Cahit Turhan in London on Monday. The sides are preparing relevant documents, the ministry’s press service said.
The ministers also praised the countries’ dialogue on cooperation in the spheres of maritime search and rescue and air services.
Ukraine in January-September 2019 acquired nuclear fuel for a total amount of $259.132 million.
According to the State Statistics Service, in the nine months, Russian-made fuel for $158.496 million was purchased for Ukrainian nuclear power plants, while fuel worth $100.636 million was bought from Sweden.
Thus, the share of Ukrainian purchases of nuclear fuel for the indicated period from TVEL (Russia) in monetary terms amounted to 61.2%, from Westinghouse (Sweden) some 38.8%
