Page 62 - UKRRptSept19

Ukraine will work with Moldova to modernize border gas metering stations so Ukraine can receive Romanian gas, Ukrtransgaz said Monday. The investment would allow up to 1.5bn cubic meters of Romanian gas to enter Ukraine, the equivalent of 15% of last year’s total imports. Ukrtransgaz plans to complete the work before Russia’s gas transit contract with Ukraine expires Jan. 1. The 50 km stretch of upgraded gas line will cross Transnistria, the Russia-controlled statelet in eastern Moldova. Ukrtransgaz did not address the issue of potential Russian interference in this gas flow.
Ukrtransgaz has finished upgrading five gas compressor stations to allow pumping gas from reservoirs in western Ukraine to supply eastern and southern Ukraine, the state gas transit company reports. This reverse mode of Ukraine’s gas pipeline is to be used if Russia shuts off all its gas shipments across Ukraine after the 10-year transit contract expires Jan. 1. Ukraine has not bought gas directly from Russia in almost four years. But in a swap operation with Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary, Naftogaz draws down Russian gas its passes through Ukraine, later paying Western companies for the gas. Last year, Ukraine imported 10.6bn cubic meters of gas, one-third of the nation’s consumption.
9.1.2 Automotive sector news
Ukraine uses road repair money half as efficiently as neighboring Slovakia, according to a new study by Kyiv’s centre for Economic Strategy. Ukraine gets fewer bidders on highway tenders, places more priority on road length than on intensity of road use, and fails to make adequate use of international aid money, the report says.
Sales of electric vehicles increased by 53% through July, compared to the same period last year, reports Ukravtoprom. Of the 3,742 cars and 293 commercial vehicles, 91% were used imports. On Tuesday, Zelenskiy signed
62 UKRAINE Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com