Page 57 - UKRRptNov18

Ukraine worries that its gas transit revenue will drop sharply in the early 2020s and that Gazprom will stop selling to Slovakia and Poland sufficient volumes for resale to Ukraine.
Ukrtransgaz has announced a tender to modernize the nation's largest underground gas storage facility . Located about 75 km east of Poland, the Bilche-Volitsa caverns can hold 17bn cubic meters of gas, the equivalent of half of Ukraine’s annual gas consumption. In the tender, expected to cost $35mn, Ukrtransgaz seeks modern gas turbine engines for the compressor station at the reservoir. Overall, Ukraine can store 31bn cubic meters.
Through September, Ukraine has cut its gas imports by one quarter, to 8bn cubic meters , Ukrtransgaz reports. For the last three years, all of Ukraine’s gas imports come from three EU nations -- Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. Most of this is Russian gas that does a U-turn at Eastern European gas hubs. There was no explanation as to why gas imports are down in 2018, a year when the heating season stretched into April.
Through September, Russia’s Gazprom sent 7% less gas through Ukraine pipeline transit system compared to the first nine months of 2017. So far this year, Ukrtransgaz reports that it has handled 65.4bn cubic meters of Russian gas. Last year, volumes were up 13.7%, largely due to maintenance work on the Russia-Germany Nord Stream pipeline.
9.1.2 Automotive sector news
Sales of new cars through September increased by 4%, to 60,300,
Ukravtoprom reports. After a 25% increase in 2017, new car sales growth is held back this year by the influx of high quality used cars from Europe, many imported illegally.
Used car imports to Ukraine soar by 87% in 9M18. The number of used cars imported into Ukraine was up over the first nine months of this year to a total of 72,000 vehicles, UNIAN reports. Volkswagen cars have proven to be the most popular brand
Ukraine used car imports were worth $1.4bn in the period and used cars account for some 60% of car sales. The number of imports almost doubled (1.9-times) from the same period a year earlier, according to Ukrautoprom Association. In September, Volkswagen was the most popular with 1,538 used cars sold, the association said. Renault ranked second with 1,383 used cars. Skoda was third with 1,008.
Incomes have started to recover after several years of decline and there is a large pent up demand for bigger ticket consumer items like cars. However, with one of the lowest real income levels in Europe and a banking sector crippled by non-performing loans (NLPs), Ukrainians are not yet in a position to buy many new cars.
9.1.3 Transport sector news
Ukraine should have its first low-cost airlines flying domestic routes by the end of the year , the country's Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan said during an investment conference in London. "We have a new operation
57 UKRAINE Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com