SpaceDude wrote: Article also mentions CUB Energy
https://ukranews.com/news/603158-kompanyya-nafta-planyruet-ynvestyrovat-pochty-200-mln-dollarov-v-dobychu-pryrodnogo-gaza-v-ukrayne Large multinational companies are planning to invest hundreds of millions of euros in the modernization and development of oil and gas fields in Ukraine. And the first for many years a serious foreign investor who enters the domestic market of hydrocarbons is the Slovak company Nafta. This was announced today at a press conference of the management of this company.
"The EPH industrial and energy holding has been operating in Ukraine for the first year. We have studied almost the entire territory of the country and concluded that in the next 5 years we will be able to effectively invest $ 200 million in Ukrainian gas fields. Directly organizing and carrying out gas exploration and production Our subsidiary Slovak company Nafta, which has been successfully operating in the western region of the country for 5 years, will be engaged in, "said Robert Bundil, project manager for EPH holding, to journalists.
According to R. Bundila, this is a guaranteed investment in the development of the Yuzovskoye field. The businessman recalled that today, in the first half of the day, the Cabinet of Ministers at its meeting approved the transfer of 90% of the rights and obligations of Nadra Yuzovskaya LLC in the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) on Yuzovskaya Square (Kharkiv and Donetsk region) to Yuzgaz BV (Netherlands) with the investor-operator of the project represented by the Slovak company Nafta. According to the explanatory note to the draft government order, Nafta provided a guarantee of 100% collateral for Yuzgaz’s obligations, which would cover $ 200 million in search funding (drilling at least 15 wells).
In turn, Lubomir Kopchik (Nafta RV), director of the Nafta representative office in Ukraine, stressed that in his work on hydrocarbon production, the company will not only explore new sites, but also reconstruct and renew old wells, which number 47 facilities. At the same time, advanced world technologies will be used, with which the Ukrainian specialists will mainly work.
“We definitely count on attracting both local specialists and Ukrainian companies to work. This is about creating hundreds of new jobs. And at least 80% of local specialists will work in our facilities. As a result: filling local budgets through taxation” - noted L. Kopchik.
In turn, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to Ukraine, Radek Matula, noted that entering the Ukrainian investment market of such a serious representative of Central European business, like the ERN holding and its subsidiary Nafta, is an excellent example for other potential investors.
“For more than four years we have been supporting the Ukrainian government’s policy of increasing its own gas production. In the situation in which your country is today, the arrival of serious European capital will only contribute to the growth of Ukraine’s energy independence,” Radek Matula summed up.
As the Deputy Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Natalia Boyko noted on her Facebook page, an important step was taken in the direction of energy independence at the Government meeting today! A step towards new investments. Approved competitive conditions for 12 new projects on the conclusion of agreements on production sharing. Ukraine expects to attract more than 50 billion UAH to hydrocarbon production as a result of the conclusion of future agreements.
"Competitions will be held with maximum transparency. To increase transparency, a provision has been included that obliges applicants to disclose not only information about their participants, but also actual final beneficiaries ... Competitive conditions provide for a minimum investment, list and term of work at the site, main criteria for product distribution and the specifics of the terms of the agreement on the part of the state ", - said N. Boyko.
The official emphasized that in this way, in 2019, the state would offer investors at auctions and tenders over 40 oil and gas areas with a total area of over 20 thousand sq. Km.
Reference:
Oil and gas company Nafta is a leader in the field of hydrocarbon research and production in Slovakia with more than 100 years of experience. The company is engaged in the search and production of gas and oil, applies leading modern technologies in its work. During its existence, Nafta has drilled more than 3 thousand wells in the Vienna and East Slovak basins. The company has a storage capacity of 2.74 billion cubic meters. m of natural gas.
Since 2016, Nafta has been implementing a joint project with the American company Cub Energy Inc. in Ukraine. gas prospecting and production in the Transcarpathian region. In two years, Nafta carried out seismic surveys and this year began drilling three exploratory wells.
The management of the Slovak Nafta, of which 29% is owned by the state, is carried out by the infrastructure division of EPIF, which is 68% owned by the EPH Central European Energy Holding.