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Serbia sets short-term maintenance this month. KKCG says discussing transfer of
Exemptions should also be obtained to
maximum retail fuel prices bypass strict environmental requirements Moravia Gas Storage to Czech state
with regard to the shale oil burning, he added,
Serbia’s trade ministry said on June 24 it for instance saving on costs of filters aimed Czech investment group KKCG, owned by
has set maximum retail prices of petroleum at keeping fuel oil residues away from the billionaire Karel Komarek, is negotiating
products that will be valid until June 30. environment. with the Czech government to transfer the
The price of fuel increased in the Other technical work and the purchase shareholder rights in Moravia Gas Storage
previous months amid the energy crisis contracts for the shale oil, or any alternative (MGS) to the Czech state, said KKCG
following the war in Ukraine. The fuel fuel to natural gas being used, is also needed spokesperson Dana Dvorakova.
prices were capped in other countries in the – Eesti Energia itself needs to estimate how In March, Komarek said he is seeking
region. much shale oil it needs to produce, i.e. to to cut his links with Russian energy
In this period, diesel will be sold at a refine from shale mined in eastern Estonia, giant Gazprom due to Russia´s invasion
price of RSD212 (€1.8) per liter, while the and to stock up ahead of winter. of Ukraine. He has been in discussions
price for 95-octane petrol is set at RSD201 Timo Tartar, deputy secretary general with the Czech government about how to
per liter, the Serbian Ministry said in a at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and remove Gazprom from the longstanding gas
statement. Communications, concurred that a state of storage joint venture between his oil and
In line with the decree, fuel retailers are emergency could be declared, but said that gas production company MND (Moravske
obliged to apply the determined retail prices this should be down to local municipalities Naftove Doly) and Gazprom Germania.
immediately after the official publication on rather than the state. Komarek’s close links with Russia have
the ministry’s website. He said: “It is necessary to declare a state of become an embarassment to the gambling
emergency at local government level, in order tycoon, and were raised by Camelot, the
to be able to use other fuels relating to district losing bidder in the UK National Lottery
Eesti Energia chair calls for heating for a lengthier period of time,” said tender, in its failed attempt to keep the
Tatar. “However, there is no need to directly
license. Komarek has written an open letter
‘state of emergency’ over declare an emergency regarding the national criticising Russia’s invasion.
MGS is one of the Czech Republic’s
natural gas market.”
natural gas supply not guarantee natural gas will be delivered to most modern underground gas storage
The planned Paldiski LNG terminal does
facilities, a critical part of the country’s
The board chair of state energy generator the network at an even tolerable price even if strategic energy infrastructure. It is a 50-50
Eesti Energia is calling for a state emergency it is up and running in time, he added. joint venture between KKCG, MND and
to be declared ahead of next winter due to the Hando Sutter referred to this as passing the Gazprom. The capacity in the facility is
possible lack of natural gas supplies or their buck, however. now leased to Gazprom, which is to pay
alternatives, ERR.ee, the website of Estonian “If the municipalities ask why they should CZK7.5bn to KKCG for the 15-year lease of
public broadcaster ERR, reported on July 6. we declare an emergency in district heating the vast majority of the capacity.
Hando Sutter, Eesti Energia board chair, when there is no emergency regarding natural According to the Czech News Agency,
referenced the term “Hadaolukord”, which gas supplies … this would be a ‘dead circle’, Gazprom could lose its capacity if it does
would be necessary due to the ending of while someone would have to make the first not start filling it. A recently approved
natural gas supplies from Russia, while move,” adding that the environmental issues amendment to the Energy Act introduces
a planned Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) outlined above could only be addressed via a the so-called “use it or lose it” principle,
terminal at the port city of Paldiski may not be national state of emergency. which says that gas companies that do not
ready in time. Tatar rejected the idea that the absence of use their reserved capacity in gas storage
He said “An emergency situation relating a national decision imposes any restrictions facilities in the required minimum amount
to the natural gas supply should be declared as on a municipality, while, since time is of the will be able to lose part of this capacity.
soon as possible”. essence, municipalities could start declaring Specifically, the capacity they have not used
Doing so so far ahead of the heating season their states of emergency in the summer, up to the minimum required amount, which
would give generators and industrial users particularly if it became apparent that natural is now 80%. The aim of the negotiations
time to apply for the certification needed from gas supplies were not going to be sufficient for is to support the Czech state in its efforts
the Environmental Board (Keskkonnaamet), district heating needs. to become independent from Russian
he added. LNG prices may still be high in relation to energy. The Czech government is currently
“If we don’t start dealing with this right the world price even once the terminal and assessing the proposal.
away, the heating season will soon be upon the infrastructure planned for Paldiski is up “I can confirm that the KKCG group
us, by which time it would be too late to start and running, he added has submitted an offer to the Ministry of
making the changes,” Sutter went on. As to the Baltic-Finnish region, the Finance for the transfer of shareholder
“Then extraordinary measures should annual demand of around 60 TWH (only rights in Moravia Gas Storage and the
be taken today to reduce gas consumption about 5TWh of which pertains to Estonia) of Ministry of Finance is now actively
and replace it with other energy sources if natural gas is at present only guaranteed to a considering this proposal,” confirmed
possible,” he said. maximum of 39 TWh, market participants Tomas Weiss, spokesperson of the finance
Sutter took Narva as an example of the say, which will not be sufficient for the winter. ministry, to the news agency.
latter; shale oil could be used to provide Estonia is set to stop importing any
district heating – hot water piped in centrally Russian natural gas as of the end of this year,
to many apartment blocks – he said, given while the state has declared an emergency
that a cogeneration power station whose reserve of 1TWh is to be created.
by-product of hot water could be used
for the same purpose will be undergoing
P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 27 08•July•2022