UIA has reversed plans and will not resume flights between Kyiv Boryspil and Warsaw Chopin on June 18, as the airline announced last week. UIA blames market conditions.Kharkiv has two tram renewal projects. Acting Mayor Ihor Terekhiv plans to unveil in September a locally assembled Czech Škoda. Separately, the European Investment Bank announced on May 26 that it is evaluating a €75 million loan to Kharkiv to pay for new trams and related infrastructure. With Best Regards, Jim Brooke

how they will behave with those political prisoners, of whom there are already thousands today,” Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said Friday. Air links were broken after Belarus forced down a Ryanair Athens-Vilnius flight and arrested a dissident journalist Roman Protasevich and his Russian girlfriend, Sofia Sapega. Western nations say that action on May 23 by Belarusian Air Force MiG-29 amounts to state piracy and must not be tolerated.

 under an EU decision that took effect Saturday. This coming weekend, more Belarus sanctions, possibly a ban on bond purchases, are to be discussed at a meeting in Cornwall, England of the G7 – US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the EU, Reuters reports.

, compared to January-May 2020, reports Ukravtoprom, the vehicle industry association. Used imports total 159,500 so far this year, four times more than new imports.

, the company says, citing “our network optimization exercise.” Three years ago, the Danish shipper stopped visiting Odesa. Now, Maersk will concentrate on Pivdenniy, Ukraine’s busiest port. Previously known as Yuzhny, this port has Ukraine’s fastest growing container terminal, TIS.

, for the first five months of this year, compared to the same period in 2020, reports Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority. Handling of ore dropped 14%, to 15.7 million tons. Handling of grain was down 33%, to 14.6 million tons. Food and metals prices are at 10-year highs.

, Prime Minister Shmygal writes on Facebook. Exports to China, Turkey, UK and US were up almost 50%, compared to January-May 2020. By contrast, exports of goods during the first quarter were up only 12% yoy, to $13.7 billion.

, increasing the known size of its Sakarya gas field by one third, to 540 bcm. Turkey consumes about 50 bcm a year. Ukraine consumes about 30 bcm. This summer, Ukraine’s Naftogaz plans to start seismic surveys in an offshore Black Sea block, near Romania and the mouth of the Danube.

, Serhiy Hlazuno, group CEO told reporters Friday. During this time, the group plans to drill 30 wells. At present, it has 29 operating wells. Last year, Smart Energy increased its natural gas production by almost 9% yoy to 400 million cubic meters.

, reports Ukratransgaz. With Ukraine’s duty free warehouse regime gaining wider acceptance amongst EU companies, foreign-owned gas now accounts for 28% of the 15.5 bcm currently stored in Ukraine. Over the summer, when prices are low, the reservoir system is expected to fill to close to its 30 bcm total capacity.

Bartosz Cichocki, Poland’s Ambassador to Ukraine tells Glavcom news site. Ukraine stopped buying gas from Gazprom in November 2015, and buys Russian gas through intermediaries. Noting that Poland will stop buying gas from Gazprom after next year, the Ambassador said: “We are ready to help your country also become independent of Gazprom. It seems to me this option has no alternatives, because, if Nord Stream 2 starts operating, Russia does not have enough gas to sell through a pipeline running

, reports the Green Deal service of Interfax-Ukraine. “We want to become the world leader in hydrogen technology,” Peter Altmeier, Germany’s Minister of Economy and Energy, said Friday. German officials are speaking with their Ukrainian counterparts about producing industrial quantities of hydrogen in Ukraine. Conceivably, Ukraine could use its existing east-west pipeline network to ship hydrogen to the EU.

Two weeks ago, Biden waived sanctions against the company building the pipeline, saying the line is almost finished and relations with Germany take precedence. Former US President Donald Trump, in a speech Saturday in North Carolina, contrasted President Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL Canada-US pipeline with Biden waiving sanctions on Nord Stream 2. Trump said: “He decided to stop the construction of our pipeline, but approved the construction of the Russian one.”

, Putin predicted in his plenary speech, reports Reuters. His Deputy Prime Minister, Alexander Novak said that less than 100 km of the 1,230 km Russia-Germany pipeline remains to be built. Putin said Gazprom would start filling the line with gas as soon as Germany grants approval. Gazprom shares rallied after the announcement, reaching 274 rubles ($3.76) per share, their highest level in 13 years. Combined, Nord Stream 1 and 2 will have the capacity to pump 110 bcm a

. Referring to Ukraine’s pipeline system, he said: “We now pay them $1.5 billion a year for gas transit. They might have been paid three, four, even five billion but they have wrecked everything with their own hands.”

 President Putin told the annual St Petersburg Forum investment conference on Friday. According to TASS, he said: “There is a possibility to use Ukraine’s gas transport system in the future, even after our current contract expires. Everything is possible and we are ready for it and want it but goodwill from our Ukrainian partners is needed.”

 Articulate German officials may promise that they will not allow Russia to use Nord Stream 2 to leave Ukraine defenseless. But with elections in September, articulate German officials will come and go. The reality will remain: a $11 billion pipe at the bottom of the Baltic that renders Ukraine’s Russia-EU pipeline system redundant. With Best Regards, Jim Brooke

. Recently, Ukrainians carried out a national campaign, planting 1 million trees in 24 hours. To plant 1 billion trees, it would be necessary to plant 1 million trees every day for three years. On a more realistic note, President Zelenskiy signed into law yesterday a ban on conventional plastic bags, effective next Jan. 1. Stores are to switch to biodegradable bags.

. If the Rada passes the irrigation bill, Leshchenko tells the Kyiv Post he expects the EBRD and the World Bank to loan Ukraine $2 billion to rebuild its irrigation systems.