23.09.2014 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - Ukrainian Government is trying to compensate the deficit of natural gas

23.09.2014 Daily Highlights from “Digests & Analytics Ukraine” News Agency

Ukrainian Government is trying to compensate the deficit of natural gas even via temporary agreements with Gazprom. Arms Trade Treaty, signed by Ukraine and the UN, opens opportunities for arms supply to the country.

Ukraine

• Ukraine signed multilateral agreement on arms trade within the framework of the 69th Assembly General of the United Nations Organization in New York.
• Central Elections Commission have already registered 2,372 candidates for Verkhovna Rada elections, with 1,000 among them for majority districts, and the rest on party lists. Party «Volya» has been refused its candidate list registration based on purely procedural reasons.
• NBU continues to devaluate hryvnya vs major currencies: 13.53 UAH/USD (-5 cop), 17.37 UAH/EUR (-4 cop), 3.51 UAH/10 RUR (-1 cop).
• Kyivoblenergo, owned by Russian Gosduma deputy Babakov, have recently started implementing blackouts of electricity supply to consumers due to power deficit within the unified energy system of Ukraine. Minister Semerak assessed such actions as politically driven by the aggressor country.  
• Ukrainian Energy Minister Prodan said that due to destruction of Donbass coal mines, Ukraine will have to import coal from abroad, including Russia.
• European Energy Commissioner suggests that Ukraine and Russia should agree on some temporary price for natural gas supplies during the trilateral gas negotiations planned for September 26 in Berlin and before the Stockholm arbitrage makes its decision on the pending case. Ukrainian Government has nothing against Ukrainian enterprises signing individual gas supply contracts but is insisting that chemical companies shouldn’t be supplied with natural gas from underground storage facilities.

Kyiv

• As per announcement made by the Chairman of the Kyiv City Council Kluss, city metro fare will increase to 3.5 UAH starting from the 1st of January, 2015.
• Massive cuts of hot water supply in Kyiv helped saving natural gas just for marginal 3-5 days of the coming heating season.

War in Ukraine

• Militants attacked Ukrainian military strongholds in Avdiivka, Granitne, Panteleumonivka and in Donetsk International Airport. As reported by the information center of the NSDC, Russia conducts troops rotation in Ukraine.
• 1 civilian have been killed during terrorist shelling of residential areas of Donetsk. Other 13 civilians have been killed during shelling of Debaltseve and Yasinuvata.
• As has been recently announced by the Dnipropetrovs’k State Regional Administration, around 1,000 dead bodies of Ukrainian fighters are being kept at coroners offices of Zaporizhya, Dnipropetrovs’k and Kharkiv regions. Half of them are unidentified.

International

• Following the decision of the EU, Norvegian Government adopted package of sanctions against Russia, as no evidence exist on Russian efforts to deescalate the conflict in Donbass.
• According to opinion of the European Foreign Affairs Office Director, reforms have been stuck in Ukraine as a consequence of the coming elections, combined with situation in Donbass.
• The Wall Street Journal and Reuters report about evidence of pressure on European Commission leaders and President Poroshenko from Russian President Putin and Russian Economics Minister  Ulyukayev aimed to revise the association agreement.
• Russian authorities are getting ready to deploy nuclear submarines in the Black Sea.

Trends

• NBU Head Gontareva have recently stressed that exchange rate of 14.9 UAH/USD is the «black market» rate and that the weighted average rate is around 13.5 UAH/USD. Cap selling rate of 12.95 UAH/USD have been recently agreed on during a meeting of the President, Prime Minister and NBU head with the leadership of 50 major banks. NBU administrative measures lead to currency exchange market going into the shadows.
• Natural gas balance deficit could lead to disruptions of heating for residential buildings during the coming autumn-winter season. Accordingly, the authorities are pushing the most gas consuming enterprises to switch to economy mode, as well as to allow them to conclude individual natural gas supply deals, despite opposition from Ukrainian gas lobby.