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Ukraine wants to resume exports of energy in Moldova

Date: February 4^th 2010 Author: Ion Preasca, Chisinau Category: Articles
Topic: Electricity , Economy

Ukraine has begun talks to resume electricity exports to Moldova, the newspaper Kommersant-Ukraine reported. Negotiations are going on between the Ukrainian state company Ukrintenergo and the Moldovan company Energocom.

Dialogue arose after it became known that the cost of electric power purchased by Moldova from JSC Moldavskaya GRES, also known as the Moldovan power plant at Kuchurgan, situated in Transnistria and belonging to the Russian company Inter RAO UES Group, increased its prices in 2010 to 5.83 US cents per kilowatt.

PHOTO: Martina Budal

Ukrainian electricity demand in Moldova estimated at 250-270 million kWh a month

According to Fant Di, the press secretary of the Ministry of Fuel and Energy, Ukraine can offer to Moldova partner conditions which will be advantageous for the both parties. He evaluated the monthly demand for Ukrainian electric power in Moldova at 250-270 million kWh.

Moldovan Prime Minister Vladimir Filat stated that restarting electricity supply from Ukraine would take time.

"I understood that we would not soon have a clear answer regarding the energy system, due to the political situation in Ukraine," Filat said during the governmental commission on energy settlement.

The prime minister underlined that "we have to be very careful" when concluding contracts on power procurement.

Delivery price: The main issue of negotiations

The main issue in the negotiations is the price of delivery. Currently, the wholesale price for the Ukrainian energy market is 5.6 US cents a kilowatt, but this includes the addition of 30 per cent used as a subsidy by Ukrainian authorities. Without this extra fee, the export price of energy in Ukraine could be 5.0 to 5.5 US cents a kilowatt.

For comparison, Ukraine exports electricity to Belarus at a price of 4.5 US cents a kilowatt.

Ukraine stopped commercial supplies of electric power to Moldova in the beginning of 2009, as the Moldovan power plant at Kuchurgan was offering a lower price.

Moldova resumed electric power purchases from the Kuchurgan plant on 1 January 2010. Under the contract signed between the plant at Kuchurgan and Energocom, electricity supplies will be assured till 31 March 2010.

Moldova currently produces about 30 per cent of its needed electric power.

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