The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide a EUR 10 million two-year committed local currency-denominated working capital loan to the Ukrainian electricity and gas supplier ERU Trading LLC.
As stated in a report of the bank, the decision was made by the board of directors on June 9.
“EBRD funds will be used to support growing gas trading operations of ERU Trading in order to secure low cost gas from EU during summer season and store it in Ukrainian gas storages with further sale in Ukraine,” the EBRD said.
According to EBRD, the proposed project supports a private, independent trader in competing with the dominant player, Naftogaz, in an increasingly liberalised market, and facilitates increased liquidity and competition on the private energy exchange UEEX following the MoU signed by the EBRD in July 2020.
The EBRD will become the first international financial institution in the existing loan portfolio of ERU Trading.
ERU Trading LLC, established in 2016, belongs to Yaroslav Mudry and Dale Perry. According to the information on the company’s website, gas supplies to the population are an important part of its strategy. In February of this year, the company received the license from the energy regulator.
EBRD, ELECTRICITY, GAS, LOAN
Metallurgical enterprises of Ukraine in January-May this year increased consumption of natural gas by 8.8% compared to the same period last year, to about 800 million cubic meters.
According to an information note of the Ukrmetalurgprom association, electricity consumption by metallurgical enterprises during this period amounted to about 4.74 billion kWh (104.2% compared to January-May 2020).
As reported, metallurgical enterprises of Ukraine in 2020 increased consumption of natural gas by 4.4% compared to the previous year, to 1.88 billion cubic meters, and electricity consumption by metallurgical enterprises during this period amounted to about 11.1 billion kWh (99.4% versus 2019).
Transit of gas through Ukraine should remain even after the construction of Nord Stream 2, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.
Maas told journalists in Berlin on Wednesday that Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin long ago that for Germany, the completion of the construction of Nord Stream 2 is associated with the need for further gas transit through Ukraine.
According to him, nothing will change in Germany’s position in this regard.
Ukraine may return to the idea of attracting European and American companies to manage its gas transmission system (GTS), Advisor to the Minister of Energy of Ukraine Lana Zerkal has said, expressing this opinion on the air of ICTV TV channel.
“This may be the same idea that was in 2019 for a joint consortium involving European and American companies to use the Ukrainian pipeline,” the ministry’s press service said, citing her.
According to Zerkal, this step will contribute to the lifting of Gazprom’s export monopoly on gas sales, since European consumers will have access to the GTS, deciding which gas supply route is more profitable for them.
“This is a geopolitical problem and it must be resolved at the geopolitical level using mechanisms inherent in geopolitics. Nord Stream 2 has become a stumbling block for the whole of Europe and for transatlantic relations. This is not only a question of Ukraine. This gas pipe has become an issue and a subject of international negotiations at the highest level,” Zerkal said.
She recalled that with the help of Ukraine’s partners in the European Union, it was already possible to amend the EU Third Gas Directive, which provides for its application to Nord Stream 2.
“It is very important that it be applied in full, because it will make it possible to balance market relations if Nord Stream 2 is nevertheless completed, certified and launched,” she said.
According to her, the EU has tools that can secure Ukraine from the use of Nord Stream 2 in full, leaving the Ukrainian GTS without transit.
“But for this we need to work with the European Commission, as well as with other countries that are also not interested in the launch of Nord Stream 2,” Zerkal said.
Egypt has moved from the importers of natural gas to the category of producers due to the discovery of deposits on the Mediterranean shelf, therefore one of the promising areas of cooperation is the export of gas to Ukraine through barter deals for grain and other products, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt Ayman Ahmed Mokhtar Elgammal has said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. He said this will improve the trade balance – there will be no need to attract foreign currency into the transaction, and will also allow to align the import/export balance, to correct the existing bias towards Ukraine.
At the same time, Ukrainian companies are encouraged to invest in renewable energy in Egypt. However, there are no specific agreements yet, the ambassador added.
At the same time, the official stressed that the Egyptian side is interested in investing in Ukraine.
The main interest of Egyptian companies in projects of agricultural production and animal husbandry, but projects in the energy sector are not yet discussed, he said.
DTEK is considering the possibility of expanding its oil and gas business in Ukraine, CEO of the company Maksym Timchenko has said in an interview with the Ekonomichna Pravda edition.
“We are constantly studying the deposits of all available players on the market. That is, we are open to expanding our business, without exception, with all players, including state-owned companies. If there are such opportunities not only for acquisitions, but also for joint activities, some kind of joint projects in exploration and production, we are ready for this,” he said.
According to Timchenko, in particular, the assets of Geo Alliance group for DTEK are “a potential area of our interest.” At the same time, he did not comment on the details of the negotiations.
As reported, in 2020 DTEK Oil and Gas increased natural gas production by 10.8% (by 180 million cubic meters) compared to 2019, to 1.84 billion cubic meters. In 2021, the company plans to increase gas production to 2 billion cubic meters.
Geo Alliance produced 203 million cubic meters of gas in 2020.
Geo Alliance is under the mandate of the international investment and consulting group EastOne, which unites the assets of Victor Pinchuk. In 2012, EastOne announced a strategic partnership between Geo Alliance and Arawak Energy Ukraine BV, part of the Vitol group of companies, one of the largest operators in the world energy market.
