Ukraine is willing to supply equipment and materials for the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline that will link Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea, the news agency Interfax-Ukraine reported Tuesday, quoting Ukrainian Fuel and Energy Minister Yuriy Boyko.

Boyko was speaking at the Ukrainian energy summit, which was held in London as part of the Ukrainian investment summit, the agency added.

The cabinet has postponed indefinitely the signing of a production sharing agreement (PSA) on the offshore Prykerchenska oil and gas field with the US company Vanco International Ltd, another Interfax-Ukraine report said.

The reason is that the Ukrainian Defense Ministry has discovered World War II minefields there, Boyko said. But he did not disclose the possible timeframe for resolving the problem, the agency added.

Ukraine's energy strategy for 2030 envisages enhanced cooperation with the EU, a third Interfax-Ukraine report said, quoting Boyko.

The strategy is aimed to create an up-to-date energy complex in market conditions and on the basis of close ties with Russia, the agency said, quoting Boyko.

The Ukrainian cabinet launched a program to invest US$1.4 billion in the country's fuel and energy sector, Interfax-Ukraine said, quoting Boyko.

Ukraine is planning to develop alternative sources of energy and to cut its energy consumption by 12 per cent by 2030, including in metallurgy by 30 percent and in the chemical industry by 20 per cent, the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN reported Tuesday, quoting Boyko.

Boyko told the London summit that the Ukrainian government is not planning to sell assets in the nuclear industry, according to another UNIAN report.

Ukraine is planning to pump about 18 billion cubic meters of gas into its underground gas storage facilities in April-October 2007, Interfax- Ukraine reported, quoting the board chairman of the Ukrainian national oil and gas company Naftohaz Ukrayiny, Yevhen Bakulin..

Bakulin told the energy summit in London that Naftohaz Ukrayiny's net nonconsolidated profit for 2006 was 2 billion hryvnyas (US$400 million), yet another UNIAN report said.

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Related Project
Nord Stream Pipeline
Facility Type: Pipeline Owner: Nord Stream AG
Scope: New Construction Location: Vyborg, Russia to Greifswald, Germany Russian Federation