Page 48 - UKRRptJuly18

Sigma Bleyzer also is mulling setting up an energy investment fund for Ukraine.
Auctions will be held in the next six months for 44 exploration and production sites with total “projected reserves” of more than 1 trillion cubic meters of gas, the head of the State Geology and Mining Service promised Rada members Monday. Oleg Kirilyuk told a Rada meeting that auctions will be held for 14 sites on the Black Sea shelf and 30 on land, in eight regions. The regions and licenses are: Chernihiv – 1; Kharkiv – 4; Sumy – 4; Ivano-Frankivsk – 4; Dnipropetrovsk – 4; Odesa – 1; and Zakarpattya – 1. With Ukraine’s gas production stagnant in recent years, the Service has been criticized for auctioning only 43 licenses in four years.
Crude oil imports grow by over a third . Ukraine increased imports of crude oil by 36.8% or 102,260 tonnes in January-May 2018 y/y, to 380,196 tonnes, the State Fiscal Service announced. $205.489mn worth was imported, 66.8% more than in January-May 2017 ($123.194mn). The main suppliers were: Azerbaijan ($194.853mn), Algeria ($7.176mn), Iran ($1.844mn) and from other countries ($1.616mn). Ukraine did not export crude oil in January-May. In 2017 Ukraine imported 1.013mn tonnes of oil for $442.219mn, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
Ukraine cuts gas imports by 44.5% in Jan-May 2018 , Ukrtransgaz reports. According to calculations made by Interfax-Ukraine, 2.384bn cubic metres were received from Slovakia during this period (51.6% less, y/y), 645.6mn cubic metres from Hungary (21.2% up), and 311.2mn cubic metres from Poland (36.6% down). Imports in May 2018 amounted to 1.132bn cubic metres of gas, which is 4.9% less y/y (1.19bn cubic metres). Ukraine has not imported natural gas from Russia for almost two and a half years (since November 26, 2015), purchasing it exclusively from its western neigbours.
Under pressure to increase gas production, state gas exploration company Ukrgazvydobuvannya announces the discovery of another field in Kharkiv, with 200mn cubic meters in proven reserves. Two weeks earlier the company announced another field in Kharkiv, with 300mn cubic meters. The probable size of both reserves totals 3.5bn cubic meters, the gas company says.
9.1.2 Automotive sector news
New cars sales grow 10% . New car sales grew by 10% in the January to May period as compared to the previous year. Toyota was the most popular brand in Ukraine with 4,238 new cars sold.
In a bet on electric cars, DTEK is launching network of high-speed charging stations . By the end of June, the company will have 10 charging stations in Kyiv, largely in the garages of shopping centers and office buildings. By the end of the year, Oleksandr Onischenko, DTEK’s deputy director of strategy, tells Interfax-Ukraine, the company plans to install its Strum brand charging station on highways leading to Odessa, Kharkiv, Lviv, and Dnipro. The cost of fast charging is UAH8 per kWh. Slow charging - UAH4 per kWh. New registrations of electric vehicles jumped 60% in January-February, to 482.
48 UKRAINE Country Report July 2018 www.intellinews.com