Page 50 - UKRRptAug18

believed to originate in Russia.
Russia’s Gazprom will need Ukraine’s gas transit pipelines for four more years, Roland Götz, a German gas expert, predicts to Deutsche Welle. US sanction threats, questions over Danish permits, and construction hurdles will delay full operation until 2021, he calculates. To replace the Russia-Ukraine gas deal that expires in 18 months, Naftogaz should negotiate with Gazprom a short term transit contract to cover the 2020-2024 period, he advises. Naftogaz should lock in transit volumes of 30 to 40bn cubic meters per year, less than half the 93.4bn cubic meters that Russia pumped through Ukraine last year. In company to company talks, Naftogaz should stress that its reservoirs and pipelines can help Gazprom ride out gas price volatility. The German concludes: “Ukraine will only win if it ensures that as much Russian gas as possible is being pumped through its pipelines for as long a time as possible.”
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said that the country is
ready to put 44 fields with 150 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas stocks up for electronic auctions .
9.1.2 Automotive sector news
9.1.3 Transport sector news
Commercial vehicle sales up. Sales of new commercial vehicles grew by 24% in January-June 2018, y/y, to 6,400 signaling an increase in business confidence, Sales of Renault commercial vehicles grew by 19% to 1,174; whilst Citroen sold 588; Fiat, 573; Ford, 555 and Belarusian producer MAZ, 503 vehicles. In June alone, the increase was 1,241 vehicles amounting to a 38% growth y/y. the Ukrautoprom association reports
Ukraine will not allow the use of passenger aircraft older than 20 years,
Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelian told reporters in Kyiv on Tuesday. He said some planes now used in Ukraine, largely by charter airlines, are as old as 40 years. Referring to a popular policewoman TV show, he told tour operators he is thinking of hiring an “Inspector Freimut” to check aircraft cabins for cleanliness and good repair. Addressing airline owners, he urged them to renew domestic fleets with Antonov AN-158, the 99-seat single class regional jet suited for the 2-hour flights common in Ukraine. Separately, Antonov is working with Saudi authorities to produce the An-132 at facilities in Taif
The EBRD has approved a $150mn loan to Ukraliznytsia to modernize its rolling stock . Bolstered by $110mn from UZ, the state railroad is to buy 6,500 freight wagons.
The maker of Ukraine's giant cargo planes, the state-owned aircraft producer Antonov, has orders for 10 aircraft in the next five years, according to the company's president Oleksandr Donets. "The [plane] An-178 is my priority, because Antonov has always been famous for its transport aircraft. Then we will launch the manufacture of the An-158 aircraft. We would also like to continue work on unmanned aerial vehicles. However, much depends on a customer here," UNIAN news agency quoted Donets as saying. He added that the serial An-178 would be equipped with new D-436FM engines manufactured by Ukraine’s major machine-building enterprise Motor Sich. Antonov has a firm contract with Azerbaijan for the production of 10
50 UKRAINE Country Report August 2018 www.intellinews.com