Page 66 - UKRRptJun19

Omelyan launched a 5G pilot project “Internet of Things on Highways.” Last year, 4G service was launched in Ukraine. Last month, Verizon, the leading American mobile company, and South Korea’s three mobile carriers launched 5G service.
One year after the launch of 4G, about half of Ukrainians have access to the fast service, according to separate reports from the nation’s two largest mobile phone companies, Kyivstar and Vodaphone. Kyivstar, which has 26.4mn subscribers of all levels of service, plans to invest about $110mn a year through 2022 to expand 4G service, Alexander Komarov, company president, told reporters recently. By comparison, Vodaphone has about 20mn subscribers of all service levels.
9.1.9 Utilities sector news
The EBRD has joined several of Ukraine's international partners in their call to postpone the implementation of a new model of the wholesale electricity market, which was planned to be launched on July 1, spokesman Anton Usov wrote on May 27. In the EBRD's view, Ukraine's legal and technical infrastructure for the new market model is not ready yet, which will lead to its malfunctioning with a high degree of probability and therefore won’t be in the interests of consumers and market players. The postponement of the market launch should be followed by a clear plan of action that will secure its normal launch, the EBRD stated. On May 24, the proposal of postponing the new electricity market was expressed in a joint statement issued by the EU Delegation to Ukraine and the European Investment Bank. The new market should start functioning in July 2019, according to the law "On the Electric Energy Market," adopted in April 2017. Under its conditions, power producers will be allowed to sell their electricity by bilateral contracts with consumers, on a day-ahead market, an intraday market and a balancing market. This new market model should replace the existing one, in, which power producers are selling their electricity to a single buyer, the state-controlled company, based on predetermined prices (either fixed explicitly, or determined by a formula).
9.1.10 Renewables sector news
In one of his very last acts, President Poroshenko signed into law the bill providing for the transition from ‘green’ tariffs to auctions for renewable energy facilities commissioned next year. The move came after ‘green’ energy accounted for 2% of energy produced in 2018, but 8% of the nation’s electricity bill. In the new law, the solar tariff drops next year by 25%, followed by an annual 2.5% decrease for three years. For wind, the tariff drops by 10%. The auction regime, which is to start July 1, is to work in parallel with the ‘green’ tariff regime.
On the June 19, the EBRD board is expected to approve leading an €80mn syndicated loan to support renewable energy and energy efficiency in Ukraine. The EBRD would cover half of the loan, which would go to Ukreximbank, the nation’s third largest bank in terms of assets. With many buildings and factories built in the era of cheap Soviet gas, Ukraine is investing to modernize and winterize.
66 UKRAINE Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com