President says Europe may buy Russian gas on Ukrainian-Russian border

News / 30 March 2009 | 12:30

President says Europe may buy Russian gas on Ukrainian-Russian border

KYIV, March 30. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has said that in the future, Europe may buy Russian gas on the Ukrainian-Russian border. He said this in an interview with the Inter TV channel on Sunday.

“Gas is sold on the first border according to international practice,” Yushchenko said.

Ukraine’s gas transit system is a route for gas supplies to Europe. It pumps 20% of the gas being consumed by the European Union, 80% of the Russian gas being exported to the EU, and also the significant amount of central Asian gas.

Russia halted the deliveries of its gas to Europe from January 7 until January 20 due to the Russian-Ukrainian gas row early in January this year.

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Gas transportation system must be ungraded with regard for Russian interests – President

News / 30 March 2009 | 11:40

Gas transportation system must be ungraded with regard for Russian interests – President

KYIV, March 30. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has ordered the Cabinet of Ministers to draft a plan of measures for implementation of the agreements with the European Union on modernization of Ukraine’s gas transportation system with regard for the interests of the Russian Federation, the presidential press service reported.

Yushchenko noted that the international investment conference on the Ukrainian gas transportation system in Brussels on March 23 had actually summed up the results of the lasting multilateral talks.

He emphasized that effective implementation of the agreements would provide for essential increase in the level of Ukraine’s energy security, will become an important move in the context of European integration of the state, and will help towards further endorsement of Ukraine’s prestige as that of a reliable partner in the European energy market.

The President is convinced that the creation of a contemporary system for control over the volumes and quality of natural gas supplied to Ukraine and pumped across its territory along the whole perimeter of the Ukrainian border must become one of the priority areas of practical activity.

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Expert says IMF loan will hardly help Ukraine retain exchange rate at UAH 8.5/USD 1

News / 30 March 2009 | 10:50

Expert says IMF loan will hardly help Ukraine retain exchange rate at UAH 8.5/USD 1

KYIV, March 30. This year’s tranches worth USD 9.5 billion of the International Monetary Fund’s loan of USD 16.4 billion will help Ukraine only partially compensate for the outflow of funds from the national economy, the head of the Forex-Club information and analytical center, Mykola Ivchenko, believes.

He said that this outflow could be compensated in the form of the negative balance of payments at USD 12 billion and would help retain the U.S. dollar exchange rate at no more than UAH 10 / USD 1.

“However, another USD 10-11 billion will be required to stabilize the dollar exchange rate at the level of UAH 8.50 / USD 1 and support the stability of the national banking system,” Ivchenko said.

The expert said that the outflow of funds from Ukraine had stabilized over the last three months. “This figure totals, on average, around USD 2 billion, however, the pace of the balance of payments slightly worsened in February,” he said.

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UN resident coordinator in Ukraine ends his work in Ukraine

News / 30 March 2009 | 10:00

UN resident coordinator in Ukraine ends his work in Ukraine

KYIV, March 30. UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine Francis O’Donnell has accomplished his diplomatic work in Ukraine.

Acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Khandohiy thanked O’Donnell for his successful activity as head of the United Nations office in Kyiv.

The officials praised the high level of cooperation and the organization’s positive role in the country’s social and economic development.

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Ukraine’s defense minister, US ambassador discuss military cooperation

News / 27 March 2009 | 17:30

Ukrainian Defense Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor discussed the state of bilateral military cooperation and prospects for its development at a meeting in Sevastopol on Thursday, the press center of the Ukrainian fleet’s command has told Interfax-Ukraine.

Taylor praised the level of cooperation between Ukrainian and U.S. servicemen and expressed confidence that this would continue, bolstering the development of democracy and openness in international relations.

Yekhanurov, in turn, said that Ukraine’s cooperation with its U.S. partners had reached its highest level and that it has become both needed and irreplaceable.

The defense minister is visiting Crimea to inspect the current state of Ukrainian army units, assess the level of their combat readiness, and study problems with the social protection of military men and their families.

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Ukrainian MFA sees Russia’s response to GTS modernization ‘very emotional’

News / 27 March 2009 | 16:40

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is satisfied with the Brussels agreements on the modernization of the Ukrainian GTS and considers ’emotional’ a response of Russia’s top officials to these agreements.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Yeliseyev reminded that Ukraine was preparing this conference on a transparent and open basis, and the decision to hold the event was announced even in March 2008 at the Ukraine-EU Council meeting, UKRINFORM reported.

According to Yeliseyev, the theses envisaged in the declaration proceed from the accords between Ukraine and the EU that are included in the Memorandum of Understanding regarding energy cooperation signed in December 2005.

“It was clearly noted in the memorandum almost four years ago that the two parties will be holding activities to develop and modernize the infrastructure of energy sector… Ukraine and the EU will be cooperating to simplify attracting necessary investments into energy sector both on the part of international finance institutions and investors,” he noted.

The diplomat underlined that the Ukrainians invited Russia’s representatives to the conference last December. “I hope that emotions [of Russia’s top officials – ed.] will ease… and with joint efforts we: Ukraine, international finance institutions, and Gold willing – private capital and Russia, will be efficiently, fruitfully and mutually beneficially working to modernize the Ukrainian GTS, through which 80% of Russian gas is transited to Europe,” he said.

On March 23, the Ukrainian government, the European Commission, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the World Bank (WB) signed in Brussels a joint declaration following the International Investment Conference on the Modernization of Ukraine’s Gas Transit System.

According to the instrument, the Ukrainian government pledged to secure independence of the gas transit operator of Ukraine, in particular, through implementing the EC Directive of 2003 on the common rules for the internal market in electricity. The Ukrainian government promised to enable the gas transit operators to act on a commercial basis in order to fulfill their business plan in a long-term perspective. Ukraine also pledged to ensure an access of third parties to underground gas storages on transparent commercial conditions etc.

At the same time, the Russian delegation left the conference as its interests were not taken into account in this document.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko stated that Ukraine will engage Russia in the modernization project.

For his part, Russia’s Premier Vladimir Putin voiced concern as Ukraine may lose control of the GTS after signing of the declaration.

On March 24, Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev said that Russia had postponed inter-government consultations with Ukraine due to adoption of the memorandum on the development of Ukraine’s GTS.

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President holds meeting on energy saving

News / 27 March 2009 | 15:48

In his address at yesterday’s meeting on efficient use of energy resources President Yushchenko criticized Ukrainian economy for low energy saving adding that this issue is critical for national security, presidential press office reported.

According to President Yushchenko despite the fact that in some sectors consumption of electricity has decreased in last decade almost twice, it remains three times higher than in European Union countries. In times of economic crisis it is unacceptable, he said.

Also the President pointed to the fact that Ukraine is the fourth leading among EU countries in possession of alternative energy sources, yet alternative energy consumption in Ukraine estimates to only 0,83% of total.

Victor Yushchenko criticized the Government for energy resources pricing policy saying that it does not stimulate energy saving. He also added that the policy of irrational consumption of energy resources puts a great burden on the budget when these funds could have been used for other purposes.

The President also criticized financing of state energy saving program and the program of supporting development of alternative renewable sources of energy, stressing that these two programs directly manage the abovementioned problems.

He expressed assurance that local authorities should be the first to promote and implement energy saving projects with support from central government. Therefore President Yushchenko instructed each region’s government to elaborate and approve energy saving programs of their own.

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President thankes Cabinet, Naftogaz

News / 27 March 2009 | 15:00

President Victor Yushchenko expressed gratitude to the Government and to Naftogaz of Ukraine for their active support of the initiative launched in 2006 on modernization of Ukraine’s gas transit system and bringing it to European Union standards, presidential press office reported.

He emphasized that March 23 International Investment Conference on the Modernization of Ukraine’s Gas Transit System became the final point in long multilateral talks and opened practical stage of implementation of the reached agreements.

According to Victor Yushchenko effective implementation of the agreements would raise Ukraine’s energy security, become an important step on the path of European integration and favor Ukraine’s image as reliable partner at energy market.

Therefore President Yushchenko requested the authorities to submit proposals to the Presidential Decree on the composition of Ukrainian coordinative working group and an action plan of implementation of the agreements reached in Brussels on March 23.

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