Dynamics of Russian natural gas price change in Ukraine during last 24 years

In 1992 -2005 Russian natural gas price in Ukraine remained stable at the level of $50 per thousand cubic meters. Steep price growth began in 2006 and in three years it reached $360 - more than seven fold increase!

Could Ukraine become self-sufficient in natural gas supply?

Five Western gas enterprises still operating in Ukraine - Cub Energy, Kub Gas, Arawak Energy, Eni and Cadogan - are accounting for no more than 15 percent of total domestic production of natural gas.  According to Alistair McBain, CEO of Arawak Energy, a small independent hydrocarbon company, one of the main reasons Ukraine’s oil and gas market was unattractive is the unpredictable royalties system.

Ukrainian Energy Forum: EU and experts demand acceleration of energy reforms

Lack of progress in the Ukraine’s energy sector reforms was the main headline at the Ukrainian Energy Forum, a three-day conference in Kyiv that started on March 1. The event drew Ukraine’s top energy representatives and international experts, along with at least 300 senior energy executives from 20 countries worldwide.
Vice President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic during his keynote speech emphasized that Ukraine must act now to implement specific structural changes in the energy sector, what is one of the European Union’s top priorities. Among reforms, which EU expects from Ukraine:
 - the swift approval of a law on a national energy and utilities regulatory commission by Ukraine’s parliament 
 - adoption of a new electricity law to bring the country into line with its commitments to the European Energy Community 
 - developing a fair pricing system and creating a transparent public procurement system for energy companies 
- full unbundling of Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state-owned gas monopoly, what is essential for a competitive, efficient and innovative energy market operation  
Read more at http://www.kyivpost.com

Smart thermostat is developed by engineers from Kharkiv and supported by crowdfunding platform Seedmatch

Device called eCozy is a smart thermostat that calculates the best-fit heating regime for the radiators it is attached to and it can cut heating bills by up to 30 percent. The installation of a smart thermostat on a hot water radiator only takes 90 seconds.
The thermostats can be controlled remotely from a smartphone by an app available on Android and iOS via the eCozy Cloud. A Germany-based startup is now raising cash to launch full industrial production of its device, and almost reached a planned 200,000 euros on crowdfunding platform Seedmatch.  Read more at www.uadn.net

Pool of foreign policy experts is optimistic about Ukraine's future

Twenty international policy experts were asked by the Carnegie Europe the same question: Is Ukraine a Lost Cause? All of them answered no. Following are the most common views, expressed by the experts:

- "Ukraine is a lost cause only if looked at through the lens of unrealistic Western expectations" 
- "The country’s problems accumulated over the course of many, many years. They will take decades to overcome" 
- "Ukraine is in a democratic transition, and transitions take time" 
- "Ukraine remains locked in crisis. Beyond the ongoing conflict in the country’s eastern Donbas region, reforms are stalled, corruption remains endemic, and institutions are deadlocked" 
- "Ukraine is moving forward with reforms, but at a slow pace" 
- "...the progress of the last two years has shown that when Ukrainians stand together, no kleptocrat, oligarch, or foreign power can stop them" 
- "The strength of Ukraine lies in its parallel civic state, not its legal state" 
- "The main risk for Ukraine’s survival was and is Russia" 
- "The failure of Ukraine ...would accelerate the unraveling of European security, marked by Russia’s manipulation of territorial conflicts to destabilize Eastern Europe for years to come"
- "The wise support of Western powers is now critical for Ukraine’s development as a free European polity".
Read more at http://carnegieeurope.eu/ 

Ukraine joins the EBRD's Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change

Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change (FINTECC) is part of the EBRD's contribution towards climate technology transfer to countries in transition. EBRD Director for Ukraine Sevki Acuner has said that the Bank will allocate for Ukraine $40 million, while the Global Environment Fund and Neighborhood Investment Facility plan to earmark $7 million and $4 million correspondingly.

Ukraine will upgrade nuclear power plants with support of EBRD and Euroatom

30 years after Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe, Ukraine is planning to spend an estimated $1.7 billion to bring the facilities, many of which are nearing the end of their planned life spans, up to current Western standards. The project is supported by the West, including a $600 million contribution split evenly between the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Euratom.
According to the EBRD, the investment program includes 87 safety-measure upgrades. Since Ukrainian nuclear power plants produce over 50 percent of electricity, the project is vital aspect of maintaining of the country's energy independence. Enerhoatom, the state-run nuclear energy operator, runs 15 reactors at four nuclear power plants. They are all equipped with Russian-designed pressurized reactors known by their Russian abbreviation, VVER. Read more at http://www.rferl.org

Successful international launch of unique home energy monitoring system by Ukrainian inventors

Startup company Ecoisme, founded by young Ukrainian inventor Ivan Pasichnyk and his friends, recently  presented  at Indiegogoand CNET (watch also the video ) a new intelligent energy-tracking smart plug, which can monitor all of the electronic devices in your home. The sensor detects all of your appliances, monitors the energy being spent and displays the costs on your Android or i OS smart phone.

Ecoisme relies on spectrum analysis, a technology that's supposed to pick up on "noise" in the electrical network and use that not only to distinguish between your TV and your laptop, but also between brands within the same product category. In addition to giving you a wide-angle view of your home electrical usage complete with money-saving tips, Ecoisme is also supposed to issue alerts when something seems awry. Read more at http://tsn.ua

OECD: Enhancing Competitiveness in Ukraine through a Sustainable Framework for Energy Service Companies

Energy service companies (ESCOs) could help Ukraine to improve energy efficiency by stimulating private sector development of measures that in the long term will greatly benefit the economy. According to governmental estimates,  the ESCOs market in Ukraine could reach a cumulative  volume of EUR 4.4 billion by 2030, starting with EUR 130 million/year in 2015 and reaching EUR 311 million/year in 2020.
However, the market for ESCOs faces several challenges, including limited access to finance, low demand for energy services, a mismatch between demand and supply, and lack of understanding and awareness of ESCOs. The report, prepared under the OECD project “Sector Competitiveness Strategy for Ukraine”, focuses on the possible role of ESCOs in the Ukrainian market, and the policy reforms needed to foster the development of a private sector to encourage implementation and participation in energy efficiency.

Ukrainian renewable energy in 2015

2015 was very difficult for renewable energy (RE) development in Ukraine because of combination of several factors, including 50-55% decrease of "green" tariffs by government, sharp decline of national currency, what led to a drop of the value of "green" tariffs, violation of RE legislation regarding  regular review of tariffs and providing state guarantees for investors, and, of course, severe  economic recession in the country.
Just 11 MW of new solar and 16.6 MW of new wind capacity  were added in 2015 - tiny amount comparing to 300 MW of new "green" power capacity  in average, which were built annually during previous 5 years. Read more at http://www.epravda.com.ua

Ukraine’s Economy Minister resigns trying to fight official corruption

Ukrainian Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius quit on Wednesday saying his ministry was being hijacked by corrupt vested interests. In his statement, Abromavicius accused a close ally of Ukrainian President of blocking the ministry's work and pressing for powerful jobs for placement.
There has been growing public anger that pro-Western government, that came to power after a pro-Russian president was expelled by protests in 2014, has not delivered on promises to stop corruption. Ukraine's international supporters, including the United States and the European Union, are deeply disappointed by the resignation, which also sent Ukrainian sovereign bonds tumbling. Read more at http://www.reuters.com

City of Lviv will invest in upgrade of wastewater treatment infrastructure and biogas production

The project will be co-financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation and the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership, which together will provide a financing package of EUR 27.5 million to Lviv city.
The investment program will enable municipal water supply utility Lvivvodokanal to install a wastewater bio-gas combined heat and power plant, which will be able to generate up to 39,400 MW h of electricity annually and also will lead to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to approximately 128,600 tonnes of CO2. Read more at http://en.interfax.com.ua

Ukrainian wind power in 2015

Just 16.6 MW of new generating capacities were built in Ukraine in 2015, what represent 4% of total installed capacity of wind power turbines (426.2 MW) in Ukraine at the end of the year.
Wind power sector produced 1125 million kW*hours of electricity, or 0.73% of its total generation in the country. This is enough to provide annual electricity supply to 2.8 million of families. Read more at http://ecotown.com.ua

Kyoto Protocol funding laundering

At the end of the March Ukraine will have to submit a report about spending of EUR100 million, provided by Government of Japan for implementation of carbon emission reduction projects under Kyoto Protocol. However, according to Economic Pravda, Ukrainian Government is facing problems with proof that money were spent according to intergovernmental agreement.
There were number of corruption scandals covered in media and related to illegal utilization of Kyoto Protocol funding.
Recently government issued a resolution which states that Ukraine have used just 43% of its Kyoto Protocol quota for greenhouse gas emission in 2008-2012.

Cyberatacks on Ukrainian power utilities caused blackouts

On the eve of holidays last month, two power distribution companies in Ukraine said that hackers had hijacked their systems to cut power to more than 80,000 people. The intruders also sabotaged operator workstations on their way out the digital door to make it harder to restore electricity to customers. The lights came back on in three hours in most cases.
Later on Ukrainian officials appeared to blame Russia for the attack, saying that Ukraine’s intelligence service had detected and prevented an intrusion attempt “by Russian special services” against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Read more at http://www.wired.com

How to uncloak about 40 to 60 percent of the Ukrainian shadow economy?

The Economy Ministry estimates that 42 percent of the nation’s economy, or about $18 billion, was unaccounted for in the first six months of 2015. Since 2008 an average of 44.5 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product has gone unregistered, according to Friedrich Schneider, an Austrian economics professor.
According to Kyiv-based investment bank Dragon Capital, $328 billion have escaped official detection in 2011-2015. On a larger scale, undeclared work and illicit financial flows remain the principal problems. They include tax invasion, capital flight, money laundering, and misuse of budget revenues. Most dangerous one is the shadow economy in the government sector,it is based on corruption and destroys country's economy. Read more at http://www.kyivpost.com

Bloomberg: Russia and Ukraine finally break up

According to Russian news agency TASS, trade turnover between Russia and Ukraine decreased by 80% in 2015. Since Ukraine declared independence in August 1991, it sought to establish an identity that would set it apart from Russia.
However economically, Ukraine remained Russia's colony. In 2013, its trade turnover with Russia, at $31.8 billion according to the official Ukrainian statistics agency, reached 28 percent of its total trade.The last two years, since Ukraine's "Revolution of Dignity," the Russian annexation of Crimea and the Russian-backed insurgency in eastern Ukraine, have seen perhaps the biggest breakup between neighboring, closely interconnected countries in post-World War II history.  Read more at http://www.bloombergview.com

Carpathian region nedss to move to sustainable development and green economy

Slow pace of reform, corruption, unsustainable development, hunting, poaching and deforestation are devastating what's left of Ukraine's wildest regions. As well as the threat to the most important migration corridor for bears, the unique character and resources of Ukraine's Carpathians are in danger of being over-exploited and ruined for generations. The organic sector in Ukraine shows huge potential it is currently a wasted opportunity.
Environmental standards need vast improvement and businesses need to learn to recognise how to tap the soaring demand from EU markets for organically produced food. For example, the regions mushrooms, fruits and vegetables are by all accounts particularly delicious. New ambitious WWF project is aiming to reverse the destruction with one of Europe's most challenging rewilding projects. Read more at http://uatoday.tv

EU-Ukraine Association Agreement: trade part became operational on 1 January 2016

Due to the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) Ukrainian businesses receive stable and predictable preferential access to the largest market in the world with 500 million customers, while EU businesses will be able to benefit from easier access to the Ukrainian market and build new relationships with Ukrainian suppliers and cooperation partners.
The DCFTA will thus offer an opportunity to Ukraine to improve its business climate and to attract foreign investment, helping Ukraine to further integrate with the world economy. Free Trade Area is foreseen to be implemented over several years, allowing gradual legislative alignment and time for all affected stakeholders to adjust. The EU continues to support Ukraine by providing assistance and making available advice and expertise, notably to help small businesses (SMEs) to grow and to take advantage of the opportunities granted by the DCFTA, in particular regarding the progressive alignment with EU rules. Read more at http://eeas.europa.eu

Ukraine reduced natural gas consumption by quarter and increased gas transit in 2015

The aim of the governmental energy efficiency program is to consume less energy, pay less for fuel import and plan country's energy policy more efficiently. The Ukrainian authorities' ultimate goal is to achieve total energy independence for the country in ten years.
Ukraine consumes, on average, 50 million cubic meters (bcm) less natural gas each day than in the previous year, saving $11.3 million daily. Read more at http://sputniknews.com
UKRTRANSGAZ, Ukrainian natural gas transportation operator, reported an increase of gas transit in 2015 by about 8%. Most of transit gas was delivered to EU (64.161 bcm), and the rest - to Moldova ( 2. 921 bcm).
Ukraine doubled its natural gas import from Europe in 2015 to 10.3 bcm and halved import from Russia (to 6.1 bcm). Overall gas import to Ukraine in 2015 decreased from 19.6 bcm to 16.4 bcm, a decrease of 3.2 bcm or -16.3%.
Read more at http://utg.ua/ 
http://www.bloombergview.com/