A $1 billion wind farm to be built in Ukraine
Recently, Ukrainian WindFarm and Chinese PowerChina signed a contract to build a $1 billion worth wind farm in Ukraine which is set to become the largest onshore wind farm in Europe. An 800 MW project to be built in the Manhush and Nikolske districts of the Donetsk region. As WindFarm states, the project implementation demonstrates an ultimately new and beneficial approach for the state in terms of wind energy sector development, such as selling electricity at the electricity market without a feed-in tariff. PowerChina is one of the largest construction companies in China and specializes in the engineering and construction of energy and transport facilities. One of PowerChina’s projects is the construction of the largest power plant in the world – Three Gorges Dam with 22.5 GW capacity. The Wind Farm has considerable experience in the realization of wind energy in Ukraine with over 1.3 GW wind energy projects commissioned, totaling over 400 MW capacity.
EY is selected as an advising company for the concession project in Chornomorsk
Ukraine keeps vigorously working on preparing new PPP projects in the infrastructure. Based on the transparent procurement procedure the consulting company Ernst & Young will lead the feasibility study of the concession project in Chornomorsk seaport. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, the concession of the railway-ferry terminal in the port could attract UAH 150 million of investments and up. The bidding process itself is envisaged to take place in the first half of 2021. Besides that, the Ministry plans to implement another PPP project in Chornomorsk that envisages the concession of the container terminal and will be launched at the end of 2021. Chornomorsk trade port possesses a tremendously beneficial location as it’s based on the major transport corridors between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. This is the only railway-ferry complex in Ukraine and has one of the biggest terminals in the Black Sea region.
Ukraine attracted UAH 16,8 billion to the state budget from the government’s bond sale
On November 24, 2020, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine auctioned off UAH 16,8 billion worth of domestic government bonds. The Ministry offered investors five issues of hryvnia-denominated bonds, with a maturity of four months, six months, one year, three years, four years, and one issue of foreign currency-denominated bonds with a maturity of one year. The weighted average yield on four-month securities was 10.0%, on six-month securities – 10.25%, on one-year securities – 10.75%, two-year securities – 11.4%, and four-year securities – 11.7%. This is the highest amount attracted through auctions since June.
Naftogaz to conduct a geological study in the Black Sea shelf
Ukraine keeps moving towards its energy independence. Lately, the Ukrainian Government assigned Nagtogaz to conduct a geological study of the Black Sea shelf within the Ukrainian part and mandated the right to obtain special permits for the extraction of oil and gas fields in this area. Once the geological results are available, Naftogaz envisages the increase of the asset value and plans to invite foreign investors to take part in gas extraction. According to Naftogaz, the shelf possesses 1-2 trillion m³ of gas. In the long run, this means the possibility of production of up to 10 billion m³ per year, which allows Ukraine to make its own success story in shelf exploration.
The “U” factor: Ukraine’s growing role in Europe’s natural gas market
Read about Ukraine’s role in shaping the European gas market in the recent article from S&P Global – The “U” factor: Ukraine’s growing role in Europe’s natural gas market. As CEE countries, in particular, Poland, are moving towards halting direct imports of Russian gas from 2022, looking at the impact of the “U” factor will not just provide a better understanding of current price movements across Europe, but may also help predict what will happen as more Eastern European countries move away from a heavy dependence on Russian gas.
Lviv city launched a platform for IT-specialists and foreign IT companies that want to move to Lviv
Lviv has launched the information platform Relocate Lviv for the IT-specialists and foreign IT companies that would like to relocate their companies to Lviv. The online resource has step-by-step instructions, a list of the documents needed, detailed explainers on legal procedures to help the foreign companies get through the process more smoothly. The website was initiated by the Lviv City Council and KindGeek IT-company along with the Nexia DK. This initiative shows how local authorities are implementing new approaches and looking for agile solutions in order to increase the competitiveness of its location.
Ukrainian food delivery service is among Europe’s top 10 most downloaded applications
Ukrainian food delivery service Raketa appeared among Europe’s top 10 most downloaded food delivery mobile applications in 2020, reports Sensor Tower. Raketa ranks first in Ukraine’s AppStore followed by Baltic Bolt Food, which rolled out a few weeks ago in Ukraine. Raketa launched its services in 2018 and broadened its presence in 26 Ukrainian cities during the quarantine period. The company plans to expand its services in 10 new countries in 2021. With the global pandemic unfolding in 2020, Ukraine’s food delivery market has seen significant growth. Ukraine provides a huge room for growth in e-commerce and online delivery services as many companies have been experiencing an increase in the number of orders.
