EMEA News
No Financing for Ukraine LNG Plant
A planned state-run liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Ukraine is in danger of cancellation after it failed to attract €221.9 million ($288.7 million) in loans, Bloomberg reports, citing the Ukrainian-language Kommersant-Ukraine newpaper.
Two loans for the financing each attracted less than two bids, causing the tender to fail.
The project is also under pressure because Ukraine is in talks with Russia about lowering prices for natural gas imports, and an unnamed official at the country's Energy and Coal Ministry said the project might be cancelled if they are successful.
Russian officials have said they are considering allowing more players to handle LNG exports from the country to fill a growing demand for the fuel.
The Ukrainian project also cancelled a tender to hire a contractor for engineering design and survey work, saying it no longer needed "to buy commodities, works, and services," according to the Interfax-Ukraine news service.
The State Agency for Investment and National Projects of Ukraine said the tenders were cancelled because the project is now set to begin with the use of a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU).
"Namely, the first phase of the project will be implemented through the use of modern FSRU technology in partnership with the U.S. company Excelerate Energy," said Serhiy Yevtushenko, the head of the LNG Terminal project's coordinating council.
"This decision will ensure the supply of gas to Ukraine as early as next year.
"The previously announced tender was focused on longer solutions - a land-based terminal, which will be implemented no earlier than three years in the second phase of the project."
