Weekly collection of energy news articles for the region

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USAID/USEA ETAG Upcoming Events

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October 27, 2014       USAID/USEA Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey (AGT) Power Bridge Project Working Group Meeting Baku, Azerbaijan 

October 27-30, 2014       USAID/USEA Armenia Energy Assistance Program Working Group Meeting Yerevan, Armenia

November 3, 2014       USAID/USEA Southeast Europe Cooperation Initiative Transmission System Planning Project (SECI) Group Meeting Skopje, Macedonia 

Albania

Albania electricity price increase plans criticized – (DTT-Net) Businesses and trade associations are criticizing plans of Albanian socialist government to increase electricity prices, arguing that it’s the citizens and consumers that will pay the price at the end of the day…

Petromanas Secures New Drilling Rig in Albania – (Energetika) The contract has an initial term of two years with an option for extension. Under the terms of the agreement, the rig is expected to be mobilised to Albania in late 2014 or early 2015. Petromanas intends to…

Albania's OST Auctions Interconnection Capacities for November – (Energetika) Albania’s OST auction interconnection capacities for November are listed as the following…

EU Urges Cooperation to Reduce Risks in Potential Gas Cut – (Bloomberg Businessweek) European Union governments must step up cooperation to manage potential disruptions in supply of natural gas amid conflict between Ukraine and Russia, the bloc’s executive said in a report on the EU system’s resilience…

EU Recommends That Bulgaria Deregulates Electricity Prices – (Novinite) Bulgaria must deregulate the electricity market for household consumers and small companies, split the Energy Holding into smaller companies and speed up the construction of gas pipeline connections with the neighbouring countries, recommends the EC in a report, quoted by the Sega daily…

UPDATED: Bulgarian OTC electricity market records first deals since 2010 – (ICIS) The Bulgarian over-the-counter (OTC) electricity market recorded its first transactions for more than four years on Friday according to ICIS data – before repeating the feat on Monday as a further deal was agreed.

Bulgaria’s Interim Cabinet Plans Energy-Regulator Reform – (The Wall Street Journal) Bulgaria’s interim cabinet plans to make energy regulation independent from the government in one of its first pieces of legislation to be presented to a new elected parliament, according to a person familiar with the situation…

Bulgaria’s Energy Board to Change Balancing Energy Market Rules – (Publics) One of the first tasks of the recently created energy council at the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy and Energy will be the preparation of analysis of all the risks the country’s energy system is facing. More precisely, a work group dedicated to the specific issues of the power sector within the so called Energy Board will concentrate towards modifying the balancing energy market rules…

Bulgaria Gets Additional Funds for Energy Efficiency and Renewables – (Energetika) For promotion of energy efficiency and renewable-energy source measures in municipal and state buildings and local heating systems, EUR 7,647,059 is available, and for production of fuels of biomass, there is…

EU worried by budget cuts on Bulgaria’s energy watchdog: EUobserver – (Focus) The European Commission is worried that in some of the EU's member states, energy watchdogs lack the staff and resources to properly do their job, EUobserver writes…

New Bulgarian government seeks energy crisis solution – (World Bulletin) The recently elected Bulgarian government is struggling to find a solution to the country's energy crisis.  The Bulgarian  energy sector is already in debt for between BGN 800 to BGN 1,200 million ($515.3 to $772.9 million), and the financial gap is rising rapidly, according to a report from the World Bank…

Unstable political environment in Bulgaria to affect energy sector: economist – (Focus) ”Unstable political environment in the country will negatively affect the energy sector as there are many problems in it,” said Kaloyan Staykov, economist at the Institute for Market Economics, speaking for FOCUS News Agency…

Bulgaria’s Kozloduy nuclear plant signs deal to extend reactor life – (Sofia Globe) Bulgaria’s sole nuclear power plant at Kozloduy, on the Danube River, said on October 9 that it signed a contract with consortium of firms to extend operations of one of its nuclear units.  The consortium includes Russian firms Rosenergoatom and Rusatom Service, as well as Electricite de France…

Bulgaria: Kozloduy Fund Money Supports Construction of New 400-kV Power Line – (Energetika) According to EBRD’s announcement, the project will require procurement of goods, works, and services as follows: Consultancy services for the Project Management Unit (PMU) at ESO EAD (PMU Consultant), to support…

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Republica Srpska out, Bosnia energy reforms on the way – (World Bulletin) Bosnia and Herzegovina's energy sector is to be regulated at state level for the country to impose EU standard energy reforms in preparation for its EU integration. The European Union's legislative third energy package needs to be implemented in Bosnia…

Bosnia and Herzegovina Invests More than EUR 100 Million in Renewables – (Energetika) According to the data of the Association of renewable energy producers in BiH (APEOR), BiH is the one of few countries in Europe with an integrated system of construction of facilities for the production of…

Electricity Prices in BiH Decrease Slightly – (Energetika) The electricity prices in Bosnia and Herzegovina have decreased slightly, according to…

Tender launched for technical assistance project in the area of energy statistics – (Energy Community) Today the Secretariat launched a tender for the provision of technical assistance related to conducting energy consumption surveys in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro. The provision of technical assistance is part of the Secretariat’s activities to support the Contracting Parties…

Croatia 

Croatia facing unsustainable energy development – (The Parliament) The European Union is making a radical shift in economic policy by adopting the circular economy model. The re-industrialisation renaissance of the economy will involve consuming less energy and the rational management of natural resources. However, despite these tendencies on the European level, Croatia is going in the opposite direction…

Wholesale Grid Parity In Europe Achievable In Coming Years Says Report – (Clean Technica) An analysis conducted by the energy consultancy PÖYRY has found that unsubsidized renewables may be possible fairly soon in Europe. Wholesale grid parity could materialize following initial retail grid parity (aka socket parity) in several countries…

Croatian HEP Looking for Companies to Build Biomass Cogeneration Plant in Osijek and Sisak – (Energetika) You can find all details on both tenders HERE. Bids for building both biomass cogeneration plants must be received by 7 January 2015 at the address Hrvatska Elektroprivreda, Ulica grada Vukovara 37, Zagreb, Croatia…

Kosovo

EU launches energy efficiency project in Kosovo schools – (DTT-Net) The European Union launched today a 17 Euro million program aimed at promoting energy efficiency and renewables in 63 Kosovo schools…

Kosovo: Very little progress in the energy sector – (Energetika) The failure to constitute the new legislature smoothly and in a timely manner has been a setback to reform. The post-election impasse needs to be overcome and the assembly and the government established urgently…

Macedonia

Concern as Macedonia delays opening its energy market – (Energy Live News) Macedonia’s plans to delay fully opening up its electricity sector to competition have provoked dismay in an EU group tasked with boosting competition.  The nation is a contracting party to the Energy Community Treaty, which aims to spread EU energy policy to non-EU nations…

Statement of Director Kopač on delay of market opening in FYR of Macedonia – (Energy Community) "The decision of the FYR of Macedonian government to submit to the Parliament a new draft Energy Law which would postpone the full liberalisation of the electricity market until 2020 is a very clear breach of the Energy Community Treaty, which stipulates that the market should be open as of 1 January 2015…

Macedonia: Some progress in the energy sector – (Energetika) "It remains essential that decisive steps are taken towards resolving the "name issue" with Greece. Let's not forget that the UN-led process to solve this issue has been running for 19 years!" the commissioner…

Macedonia in breach of EU electricity market liberalization rules – (DTT-Net) Representatives of European Energy Community (EEC) have criticized last week's decision of Macedonian government to delay the full liberalisation of the electricity market until 2020, saying that the move is “a very clear breach of the Energy Community Treaty,” which stipulates that the market should be open as of 1 January 2015…

Macedonia to postpone full liberalization of electricity market – (Global Post) The Macedonian parliamentary committee on energy decided to postpone the full liberalization of its electricity market, the country's Deputy Economy Minister Hristijan Delev said Monday…

Macedonia Wants to Postpone Full Electricity Market Liberalisation by 2020 – (Energetika) Macedonia's government decided to amend the Energy Law and to submit it to the Parliament. The new draft envisages the delay of the liberalisation of electricity until 1 July 2016. Then the liberalisation would…

Montenegro

Montenegro: Some progress was made on energy – (Energetika) Montenegro now needs to take urgent action to deliver on the main challenges the country is facing: rule of law related issues and the need to strengthen public administration. Sustaining the pace of rule of…

Electricity Consumption in Montenegro Falls 19.5% – (Energetika) On average, the households paid EUR 30.93 for electricity, which is 16% less than in August.About 2.65% of the households consumed more than 1000 kWh in September and had to pay more than EUR 100…

Romania

Romania produces more electricity, exports surge – (Romania-Insider) Romania’s electricity production increased by 9% in the first eight months of 2014, compared to the same period of last year, to 41.5 million MWh (41.5 TWh), according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INS). The output surplus went to exports, which increased almost sixfold, data shows…

24 New Entries in Romania's Energy Market – (Energetika) The companies that entered the Romanian energy market in September are Subex Bacau, Energija Naturalis, Real Best, Dan Holding, RWE Energie, Forum Development, Solar Development Project, Sunfields Nord, Iova M…

Romania Should Reform State-owned Energy Enterprises – (Energetika) The completion of gas interconnections and reverse flow projects, including physically linking the Romanian gas system with the transit pipelines, are necessary to strengthen security of supply and to enable in…

Romania: Nuclearelectrica to tender study on nuclear sector reorganization – (Balkans) State-owned nuclear producer Nuclearelectrica is tendering a technical-economical study regarding the reorganization of the uranium exploitation reorganization and the production of nuclear fuel, with the awarded contract to be worth EUR 300,000…

Romania says received 26.7 pct less gas than asked from Gazprom – (Reuters) Gas deliveries from Russia's Gazprom on Tuesday were 26.7 percent less than asked for by Romania's pipeline operator Transgaz, the energy ministry said on Wednesday…

Serbia

Serbia's power grid to invest 400 mln euros on upgrade, EU links – (Reuters) Serbia's grid operator EMS plans to spend 400 million euros ($507.5 million) over the next six years to upgrade its ageing power network and build new links to nations in the European Union, an EMS official said on Monday…

Coal Production in Serbian TE-KO Kostolac about to Start – (Energetika) Today the regular production process should begin on the excavation of coal, announced Zoran Milosevic, director of open pit Drmno. He said that in parallel with the production of coal for TPPs, they would sep…

Putin: South Stream Will Provide Serbia More Than $2.5 Bln In Investments – (inNews) “The total amount of Russian investments in Serbia has exceeded $3 billion. Most of these funds have been invested in the strategically important energy industry. One example of successful cooperation is the energy giant Petroleum Industry of Serbia, which has turned from a loss-making enterprise into a major contributor to the Serbian state budget…

Armenia   

Losses in Armenian electricity system caused by aged network and non-optimal management - Tractebel Engineering S.A. – (ARKA) High losses in Armenia’s high-voltage electricity networks are caused by the aged network and non-optimal management, Vincent Lambillon, manager of Tractebel Engineering S.A., said at the presentation of the report on energy network development and optimization…

Armenia highlights improvement of alternative sources of energy – (ArmenPress) Improvement of alternative sources of energy is among the most important directions of our country’s energy security, but we should pay primary attention to energy saving and efficiency improvement…

Low-energy street lights being installed in several Armenian cities – (ARKA) “Green” outdoor lighting program is being implemented in a number of cities in Armenia, deputy minister of environment Simon Papyan said on Monday at a conference on capacity building in town planning, housing, energy efficiency and disaster…

Armenian energy minister and Rosatom chief to discuss extension of Armenian NPP service life – (ARKA) Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Yervand Zakarian will meet with the head of Russia’s state nuclear agency Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, to discuss a string of issues related to construction of a new power unit for the Armenian nuclear power plant, the press service of the Armenian ministry said…

Azerbaijan 

Azerbaijan reduces electricity export by over 20% –  (Trend) Azerbaijan exported 407.45 million kilowatt hours of electricity in Jan.-Sept. 2014 in accordance with the customs declaration, compared to 510.37 million…

Power export from Azerbaijan has grown a little – (ABC.AZ) Azerbaijan’s export of electric power grew to the certain extent last month. Nevertheless, for Jan-Sept power export ensured 0.115% of export revenue for the country ($17.356 bn).  The State Customs Committee reports that according to electric meters’ data for Jan-Sept 2014 electric power export from the country totaled 259.359 million kWh against 95.65 million kWh a year before…

Azerbaijan sees slight growth in power export – (News.AZ) Nevertheless, for Jan-Sept power export ensured 0.115% of export revenue for the country ($17.356 bn), Fineko/abc.az reports.  The State Customs Committee reports that according to electric meters’ data for Jan-Sept 2014 electric power export from the country totaled 259.359 million kWh against 95.65 million kWh a year before…

Power generation jumps – (Azernews) Azerenergy JSC, the main producer of electricity in Azerbaijan, generated over 16.7 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in January-September, compared to over 15.8 billion kilowatt hours in the same period of 2013 (an increase by 5.7 percent)…

Turkey, Azerbaijan sign agreements for supply of pipes for TANAP – (Azernews) Turkey's capital Ankara hosted a ceremony of signing agreements for supply of pipes for the construction of the Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) gas pipeline project.  The agreements were signed by Turkey's 'Borusan Mannesmann', 'Noksel Celik Boru' and 'Erciyas Celik Boru' companies…

Azerbaijan oil and condensate output falls 2.2 pct in Jan-Sept – (Reuters) Crude oil and condensate production in Azerbaijan fell to 32.1 million tonnes in January-September from 32.8 million tonnes in the same period last year, a source at the State Statistics Committee said, driven by declines at fields operated by BP…

Caspian Sea Could Be Key To Russian Control Of Eurasian Energy Markets – (Oil Price) The world’s favorite hotbed of instability, the Caspian Sea, has finally earned the right to be called, well… a sea. This is the unexpected epiphany of the September 29th Caspian Sea Summit that brought together the rulers of Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to the cozy coastal Russian city of Astrakhan…

Turkish company to build hydropower plants cascade in Georgia – (Trend) Turkish company Calik Enerji Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. will build a cascade of the Alpana and Sadmeli hydropower plants on the Rioni River in Georgia’s Racha-Lechkhumi-Kvemo Svaneti region.  Georgia’s Energy Ministry told Trend Oct. 14 that a memorandum on construction of the hydropower plant cascade was signed by Georgian Energy Minister Kakha Kaladze and chairman of the Supervisory Board…

Georgia

Paravani hydroelectric power plant to open in Georgia – (CTBR) European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved a $52m loan to support the financing of the power plant, which is situated on the Paravani river in the Samstkhle Javakheti region near the border with Turkey…

Turkey invests in Georgia’s energy sector – (Azernews) Turkish Calik Holding and Ahlatci Group are going to invest in construction of a cascade hydro power plants in Georgia. Two Turkish private companies signed a $500 million deal with the Georgian government to build the large hydroelectric stations…

Georgia hydroelectric plant to supply Turkey with electricity – (Today’s Zaman) Turkish conglomerate Anadolu Group held an official inauguration ceremony on Saturday for a hydroelectric power plant on the Paravani River in Georgia that will help Turkey meet some of its electricity needs…

Turkish company will build hydropower plants cascade in Georgia – (Times.AM) Turkish company Calik Enerji Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. will build a cascade of the Alpana and Sadmeli hydropower plants on the Rioni River in Georgia’s Racha-Lechkhumi-Kvemo Svaneti region. Trend news agency informs about this…

Paravani project inaugurated in Georgia – (Water Power) The 85MW Paravani hydroelectric project in Georgia's Samstkhle Javakheti region has been officially opened, marking a milestone in energy supply for the county.  The plant, which is set to play a key role in Georgia's non-carbon energy mix, was inaugurated in a ceremony at the weekend attended by the Prime Minister of Georgia…

Paravani Hydro Power Plant in Georgia opens – (Financial) In the presence of the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Garibashvili, the Minister of Energy, Kakha Kaladze, and Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Taner Yildiz, the Paravani Hydroelectrical Power Plant will be opened in Georgia on 11 October 2014. The EBRD, the principal financier of the largest renewables project in the country to date, will be represented by Bruno Balvanera, its Director for the Caucasus, Moldova & Belarus…

Formal opening set for Georgia's 87-MW Paravani hydroelectric project – (HydroWorld) Energy officials from Georgia and Turkey were to be on hand for the formal opening of the 87-MW Paravani hydroelectric project, being completed by Turkey's Andalou Group on Georgia's Paravani River.  The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) hailed the event, set for October 11, in Georgia's Samstkhle Javakheti Region near the Turkish border…

Georgian PM to attend commissioning of Paravan hydropower plant – (Trend) Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili will visit Oct. 11 the opening of the Paravan hydropower plant in the country’s southern region of Samtskhe-Javakheti.  The opening ceremony will be attended by Georgian Vice-Prime Minister, Energy Minister Kakha Kaladze, Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz…

EBRD provides Georgian bank with loan to finance energy efficient projects – (Trend) The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) provided the ‘Republic’ bank with a loan worth $10 million to finance energy efficient projects in Georgia.  The funds will be used to finance business entities of the private sector, as well as physical entities, the bank told Trend…

Moldova

European Commission publishes gas stress test report for the Energy Community – (Energy Community) Today the European Commission published its report analysing the resilience of the European gas system to a potential crisis in the coming months. The Energy Community Contracting Parties fully participated in this exercise. A separate analysis was also published focusing on the findings in the Energy Community, which was prepared in cooperation with the Energy Community Secretariat…

Turkey

Turkey to Break Ground for First NPP Next Spring – (Novinite) Turkey plans to launch the construction of its first nuclear power plant (NPP) in March or April next year, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız has said.  In 2011, Russia’s Rosatom signed a deal with Turkey’s Energy Ministry to build and operate the nuclear power plant, which will be located near Akkuyu, in the southern province of Mersin on the Mediterranean coast…

Construction of first Turkey's nuclear plant to begin next spring in Akkuyu – (Hurriyet) The construction of the nuclear power plant in Akkuyu will start next spring, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız stated in a press conference on Oct. 10.  “We want to break ground for the Akkuyu nuclear plant in March or April,” Yıldız said, at a meeting where he also hosted Turkish students set to travel to Russia for nuclear engineering training…

Construction of Turkey's first nuclear plant to begin in spring – (World Bulletin) The construction of Turkey's nuclear power plant in Akkuyu will start next spring, said the Turkish energy minister in a press conference on Friday.  "We want to break ground for the Akkuyu nuclear plant in March or April," said Taner Yildiz during a meeting where he hosted Turkish students who will be headed to Russia for nuclear engineering training…

2nd Turkish nuclear reactor seen ready by 2023 – (Today’s Zaman) A Turkish nuclear plant to be built by Japanese-French consortium will be ready to come online by 2023, the same year as the one hundredth anniversary of the Turkish republic, a consortium member said on Tuesday.  In May 2013…

Turkey's energy imports to cross $181bln in three years – (World Bulletin) Turkey's energy import bill will total $181.3 billion in the next three years, figures in the Medium Term Economic Program show.  The economic program for the years between 2015 and 2017 was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan Wednesday…

Turkey’s energy imports to cross $181B – (The Daily Star) Turkey’s energy import bill will total $181.3 billion in the next three years, figures show. The economic program for 2015-2017 was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan Wednesday. According to the program, around $56 billion is expected to be spent on energy imports until the end of this year. Energy imports will cost Turkey approximately $57 billion in 2015, around $60 billion in 2016 and nearly $64 billion in 2017…

Turkey: Spotlight On Solar Power In Turkey – (Mondaq) The licensing process for solar power projects is finally moving forward in Turkey. In line with the recent amendments in the Licensing Regulation which requires bidding processes for pre-licensing when there is more than one interested party, the first competitions for two portfolios of 8 MW in Elazığ and 5 MW in Erzurum took place on 12 May with very surprising results…

Azeri gas line contracts signed in Turkey – (UPI) The State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic announced it signed contracts in Turkey for the construction of the Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline.  SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev signed the documents in Ankara with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz…

Ukraine

Ukraine for month extends emergency measures on electricity market – (Kyiv Post) The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on Oct. 9 published cabinet resolution No. 915 of Oct. 1, 2014 on the introduction of emergency measures on the electricity market for the period of one month…

Ukraine from October 1 stops electricity exports to Belarus – (Interfax-Ukraine) Ukraine from October 1 stopped electricity exports to Belarus, Ukraine's Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Yuriy Prodan has said at a press conference in Kyiv.  According to him, this is due to power shortages for the domestic needs of the country…

Belarus plans to import 1 billion kWh of electricity from Ukraine in 2015 – (Belarusian News) The Belarusian Energy Ministry will consider importing 1 billion kWh of electricity from Ukraine in 2015, Belarus' First Deputy Energy Minister Leonid Shenets told reporters in the run-up to the third plenary session of the Belarusian-German Energy Forum, BelTA has learned…

Belarus unaffected by Ukraine's decision to stop electricity export – (Belarusian News) The share of Ukrainian electricity was about 4.5% of Belarus' electricity budget for October 2014, BelTA learned from Belarusian First Deputy Energy Minister Leonid Shenets as he commented on Ukraine's decision to stop supplying electricity to Belarus…

Council of wholesale electricity market ask Ukrainian authorities to pay the budget debts – (Kyiv Post) The council of the wholesale electricity market of Ukraine has asked to increase the prices of electricity, provide all funds from the extra charge to the tariff for electricity to the sector, expand the resources of Oschadbank and pay the budget debts for electricity…

Ukraine says ‘no’ to Moscow’s proposal to supply electricity to Crimea – (Zik) Kyiv rejected Russia’s proposal to supply electricity to rimea in exchange of Moscow’s supplies to Ukraine, Krym. Realiji reported Oct. 14.  According to Ukraine energy and coal minister Yury Prodan, Ukraine does not view Crimea as Russia’s territory and, consequently, does not agree to make any concessions to Russia…

Ukraine fears frozen conflict could yield winter energy crisis – (Financial Times) At the Foxtrot appliance store in Kiev, the must-have product these days is a Delonghi electric heater.  “This is the last one left of 20 delivered to our store just a day ago,” Oleksander, a sales clerk, said, pointing to one of the Italian-made devices and noting that sales have increased fivefold from a year ago…

Ukrainian Government Approves Ambitious New Wind Energy Goals – (Clean Technica) A new National Action Plan state decree for the development of wind energy was recently issued by the Ukrainian government, after being approved by the country’s cabinet.  The ambitious new goals called for by the decree include increasing the wind energy capacity of the country up to 2.28 GW by the year 2020 — which represents a 500% increase on the current figure of 410 MW…

Modern nuclear power plants seen as key to energy future – (Kyiv Post) Ukraine's government recently announced that it wants to sell a huge stake in its nuclear power holding and upgrade its capacity with foreign investment. However genuine interest is on both sides for modernization, the prospects for major expansion are dulled by lack of financing and technical limitations…

Major Coal Mine Shelled in Southeastern Ukraine: Energy Company – (Ria Novosti) A major coal mine has been shelled in southeastern Ukraine for four days in a row, the department of public relations of the DTEK energy company said in a statement Tuesday.  "The [DTEK Komsomolets Donbassa] mine has been shelled for four days already. From tanks, artillery weapons and mortars," the statement said, adding that miners took shelter in "defensive structures" as "massive shelling" occurred…

Ukraine Facing Overall Energy Crisis as Internal Conflict Affects Both Gas, Coal: Expert – (Ria Novosti) Ukraine is not only facing a gas crisis this coming winter, but also a possible overall energy crisis due to disruptions in coal mining and transportation facilities, said Tatiana Mitrova, head of the Oil and Gas Department at the Russian Academy of Sciences Energy Research Institute (ERI RAS)…

Coal shortage hits Akhmetov’s DTEK – (Kyiv Post) Billionaire Rinat Akhmetov’s energy holding estimates the nation is short of 8.5 million tons of coal. If left uncovered, it could lead to a drop in power generation by as much as 15 percent, said DTEK chief executive officer Maksym Tymchenko at a news conference on Oct. 10, whose company generates 30 percent of locally-produced electricity…

Poland’s Kompania Weglowa to start coal supplies to Ukraine – (Steel Orbis) According to the Ukrainian information-analytical center Gosvneshinform, Poland-based Kompania Weglowa, the largest coal supplier in Europe, is going to start coal supplies to Ukraine…

Ukraine refuses to pre-pay for Russian gas: energy minister – (Focus) Ukraine is not willing to make pre-payments for deliveries of Russian natural gas as it contradicts the existing contractual conditions, Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan said Monday, RIA Novosti reported.  "If we are to make pre-payments, let's go back to provisions of the contract that stipulate the payments should be made upon the delivery and not before," Prodan said in an interview with Ukrainian online publication Apostrof (Apostrophe)…

This program is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the United States Energy Association and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.