Page 58 - UKRRptMay20

RetargetApp ($1.5mn).
9.1.9 ​Utilities sector news
Ukraine’s electricity prices for industrial customers are twice as high as those in Eastern Europe​, according to Ukraine’s electricity Market Operator. Rates per MWh are: Ukraine - €51.01; Poland €30.23; Romania - €25.69; Hungary - €25.78; and for Slovakia - €24.1. According to Nord Pool, the European power exchange, tariffs are even lower in Western Europe. Rate per MWh are: Benelux - €22.5; France - €21.86; and Germany- €19.95. To reduce the impact of coronavirus curbs, Denmark, Norway and Sweden have cut electricity rates to minimum levels: €4.58 per MWh.
Electricity usage in Ukraine will drop by 10% during the quarantine period and by 7% over the entire year​, Olha Buslavets, acting Energy Minister predicted on April 24 in an online meeting with the European Business Association.
To help Ukraine’s beleaguered energy producers during the quarantine period,​ the government has placed a 65% duty on most coal imports from Russia and has stopped electricity imports from Russia and Belarus through May 24.
Ukraine increased its electricity exports by one third during the first quarter, to 2.2bn kWh,​ the Energy Ministry tells Interfax-Ukraine. Exports from the Burshtyn energy island in Ivano-Frankivsk to Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania rose by 58%, to 1.6bn kWh. During January-March period, Ukraine imported 1.5bn kWh, largely from Slovakia and Hungary. In a move that provoked political opposition, Ukraine broke with recent history and imported electricity from Belarus --- 150mn kWh -- and from Russia – 53mn kWh. On April 8, Urkaine’s National Commission for the State Regulation of Energy and Utilities banned electricity imports from these two countries for the duration of the quarantine, plus 30 days.
9.1.11 ​Metallurgy & mining sector news
Ukraine’s steel production is to drop by 25% in April-May​, compared to the same time last year, predicts Andriy Tarasenko, chief analyst for GMK centre, Ukraine’s metal and mining news site. He predicts low prices will continue through the year, as world steel demand may contract by 10% this year. Cutting demand for Ukraine’s semi-finished products, several rolling plants in Europe have been stopped, ostensibly due to coronavirus curbs. He predicted the Ukraine’s steel production will only return to 2019 levels in 2021.
58​ UKRAINE Country Report​ May 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com