Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has signed into law a bill allowing reorganization of the national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy, the presidential press office said.
Another bill signed by Yanukovych allows Naftogaz to buy natural gas without holding tenders, which will enable the company to enter European spot markets.
In April, the Verkhovna Rada passed two bills, On Changes to the Law on Pipeline Transport (regarding reform of the oil and gas sector) and On Changes to the Law on Government Purchasing.
The first bill allows division of the company’s duties involving transportation, production and sale of energy sources. Under the bill, the restructuring (merger, acquisition, demerger, spin-off, transfer) of Naftogaz Ukrainy will be carried out at the decision by the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers solely for the performance of Ukraine’s obligations under an agreement to join an energy community. At the same time, the law bans privatization of Naftogaz assets or assets of its gas storage and transit subsidiaries.
The second bill allows the state company to buy natural gas and transport services (including displacement, chartering, insurance, discharge/loading, quantity and quality inspection), distribution, supply, and storage without holding tenders. Naftogaz will also be allowed to buy, without tenders, services involving financial instruments, derivatives and risk management operations, financial services, the services of exchanges, auctions and electronic trading systems, and other services used in international trading and financial practice when buying and selling natural gas.
The Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Ministry said earlier that allowing Naftogaz to promptly buy hydrocarbons on exchange trading platforms with the aim to build up reserves will allow to reduce a gas price for Ukrainian consumers.
Yanukovych also signed a bill overturning the ban on the privatization of 13 large thermal power plants to implement a program for their upgrade and attract private investment through their lease or concession.
The list includes the following thermal power plants: Simferopol thermal power plant, Kamysh-Burun thermal power plant, Saky heat network, Dniprodzerzhynsk thermal power plant, Kryvy Rih heating plant, Severodonetsk thermal power plant, Lysychansk thermal power plant, Mykolaiv thermal power plant, Odesa thermal power plant, Okhtyrka heat network, Eskhar thermal power plant, Kharkiv thermal power plant 5, Kherson thermal power plant, and Sevastopol thermal power plant.
