Brussels, 25/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - Kiev will take all measures necessary to avoid interruptions to Russian gas supplies to the EU that are transited across Ukrainian territory.
The EU27 will have nothing to complain about of Ukraine this winter, Ukrainian Minister for Energy Yuriy Boyko promised EU Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger when he visited Brussels on 21 September. Boyko gave his assurances that Ukraine was prepared to guarantee the safe and uninterrupted transit of Russian gas to the European market this winter - 80% of which is routed across the Ukrainian gas pipeline network.
EU financial support for the modernisation of the Ukrainian gas transmission system was at the centre of discussions on Friday. The Commission and the Ukrainian government concluded an agreement in 2009 with the EBRD, the EIB, the World Bank and the IFC on the award of a $2 billion envelope for this - conditional upon a reform to Ukraine's regulatory management of the gas sector, which has now been undertaken. The modernisation work began this year.
Oettinger and Boyko also spoke about strengthening nuclear safety in Ukraine, which is home to 15 active reactors in four power stations (Khmelnitski, Rovno, Konstantinovka and Zaporozhye). The four Chernobyl reactors were stopped after the 1986 disaster.
EIB loan for green energy. The same day, the EIB granted the Ukrainian government a loan of €200 million, co-financed by the EBRD, for the UkrHydroEnergo programme - a programme that aims to refurbish and modernise 22 conventional and pumped storage hydropower units at six power stations along the Dnieper river. The total final installed capacity of this project will be 980MW. The programme will increase Ukraine's available electrical capacity by 10% and will contribute to the improvement of the Ukrainian electricity network and its synchronisation with the European electricity transmission system. (EH/transl.fl)