Ukraine to Launch a New LNG Terminal in 2 Years

KYIV, Ukraine, May 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ukraine is finalizing the feasibility study of constructing a new terminal for liquefied natural gas on the Black Sea shore and will shortly embark on the project's implementation. This was reported by the director of the State Agency for Investment and National Projects' management Vladyslav Kaskiv.

According to Kaskiv, the Ukrainian state will most likely hold a minority stake in the project. However, as Kaskiv added, "the participation with a controlling stake is also possible."

As reported earlier, the construction of the LNG terminal with a general volume of 10 billion cubic meters on the Black Sea shore is planned to be completed by 2014. The works on the project are supervised by the "National Project LNG-terminal" - a state-owned company. The feasibility study is expected to be ready in summer 2011. The final cost of the LNG terminal construction will be known only after the feasibility study is completed.

Some analysts predict the construction cost of the terminal to vary from 0.75 to 1 billion USD, while infrastructure cost is expected to amount to between 170 and 360 mln USD. The cost of the terminal's inclusion into the Ukrainian gas transit system is estimated at around 100-460 mln USD. The final cost of inclusion will depend on a specific construction site which still has to be chosen.

In the end of April 2011, the Presidents of Ukraine and Azerbaijan agreed that the latter would supply five billion cubic meters of natural gas to Ukraine annually for the new LNG-terminal.

The LNG terminal is one of the National Projects launched by the Ukrainian leadership in late 2010. The National Projects include 10 strategically significant investment opportunities which receive preferential treatment from state institutions and are set to reposition Ukraine on the world investment map. The projects are focused on four priority sectors representing the country's strategic development goals: "New Energy", "New High-quality Infrastructure", "New Quality of Life" and "Olympic Hope 2022".

The project of a new LNG terminal construction comes with in the "NewEnergy" section and aims at diversifying the country's foreign gas supplies and enhancing Ukraine's positions as a major gas transit country in Europe.