Page 67 - UKRRptDec20

consumers $53mn.
With the overdue electricity bill estimated at $800mn, 11 EU Ambassadors said the government has not yet moved to use budget money to pay for 20% of the bill and to pay the rest through hryvnia bonds. Under pressure from bankers, about 50 renewable producers have sued to get their money from the Guaranteed Buyer State Enterprise, reports Censor.Net. On Nov. 4, the week after the local elections, the Rada approved on first reading a bill that would give state guarantees to Ukrenergo to allow it sell bonds.
The EU ‘Hydrogen Strategy’ calls for dividing EU hydrogen production between the EU and its eastern neighbors. “​This strategy stipulates that ‘the Eastern Neighborhood, in particular Ukraine, and the Southern Neighborhood countries should be priority partners,’” writes Prokip, an energy expert for the Wilson centre. “Ukraine could become a key partner of the EU in the production and export of hydrogen. In light of Ukraine’s current diminished role in natural gas transit...hydrogen export may become the basis for a revitalized, long-term cooperation and part of the real economic integration of Ukraine and the EU.
In Ukraine, a surge of renewable projects pushed production of electricity from solar, wind, biomass up by 120% through August y/y, to 7.7 gigawatts​, reports the Energy Ministry. Renewables share of national energy production increased to 8.1%, from 3.4% one year earlier. Electricity from nuclear power plants was unchanged – 53%. But electricity from coal-fired plans dropped to 32.4%, from 37% one year earlier.
9.1.11 ​Metallurgy & mining sector news
The government plans to close about half of the nation’s 33 state-owned coal mines during this decade​, Deputy Energy Minister Maxim Nemchinov said yesterday at the presentation of a presentation of the results of a poll of residents of coal mining towns. The most economically promising mines are around Vuhledar, a Donetsk area which produces both anthracite and bituminous coals. The Ministry is studying British and German experiences with closing mines and retraining and often relocating miners. Last year, the ministry changed its name from Ministry of Energy and Coal Mining to Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection.
The EBRD is ready to loan Ukraine €200mn to conduct a nationwide inventory of mineral deposits and to prepare promising deposits for mining ​through transparent auctions of licenses, Prime Minister Shmyhal said after online talks with Marosˇ Sˇefcˇovicˇ, the European Commission’s vice president for Inter-institutional Relations and Foresight. After the coronavirus pandemic shook confidence in long distance supply chains, the EU launched last month the European Raw Materials Alliance. Last year, Sˇefcˇovicˇ, a Slovakian diplomat, helped broker the new gas transit deal between Russia’s Gazprom and Ukraine’s Naftogaz. Shmyhal told the Rada on Nov. 6 that proper development of mining could generate $400bn in economic activity over the next decade.
67​ UKRAINE Country Report​ December 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com