REUTERS - The International Monetary Fund told Reuters on Friday Ukraine should allow the market to determine gas prices as promised under a $17.5 billion loan program, after the government extended a below-market level pricing system for households.

PLATTS - But the dispute erupted again last week after the court ruled in Naftogaz’s favor on the transit element of the case, awarding Naftogaz $4.6 billion in compensation for Gazprom’s underuse of its transit network. The net award to Naftogaz was $2.6 billion across the entire case after the court previously awarded Gazprom a little over $2 billion in the supply ruling.

OGJ - Sandra Oudkirk, deputy assistant secretary for energy diplomacy at the US Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources, said Nord Stream 2 matters to the US because it would cement a transportation system in place that could perpetuate dependence on Russian gas for some key US allies. “It would not increase the amount of gas coming into Europe, only replace volumes that now are being transported through Ukraine,” she said.

WNN - A consortium led by Westinghouse Electric Company has completed an EU-funded project aimed at diversifying the supply of fuel to Russian-built VVER-440 reactors in Europe.

EBRD - He noted Ukraine continued to be one of the world’s most energy-intensive countries, three times more so than the EU average, and he said the country should focus on energy efficiency, diversifying energy sources and improving municipal services and infrastructure. The EBRD President referred specifically to the need for further improvements in governance. Progress had been made but corruption was still a barrier to foreign direct investment, he said. The establishment of anti-corruption institutions could make an important contribution to increasing transparency in the economy.

BLOOMBERG - Ukraine imported 14 billion cubic meters of gas from the EU last year, comparable to Belgium’s annual consumption. From this year, state-owned NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy should import 5 billion cubic meters annually under its contract with Russia’s Gazprom PJSC through 2019, and has to pay for at least 80 percent of that, according to the court.

GAZPROM - With LNG demand on the rise, Gazprom is making further efforts in this line of business.

IMF - “I had a constructive and open discussion with President Poroshenko on Ukraine’s efforts to fight corruption, which is expected by the Ukrainian society and is critical to improve transparency and accountability and create the conditions for sustainable growth."

УКРТРАНСГАЗ - According to Ukrtransgaz’ performance results in the first nine months of 2017, capital investments in Ukraine’s gas transmission facilities increased by 46% or UAH 486 million compared to the same period of 2016, Ukrtransgaz public and media relations department reports.

EBRD - To date, the EBRD has invested €2.3 billion in more than 130 projects in the country. The Bank combines project financing with policy engagement and most recently supported the Slovak Republic in creating the legal foundations for covered bonds with amendments to the relevant law in line with best practice recommendations by the European Banking Authority.

According to the World Bank’s Special Focus Note on reforming land markets, the moratorium on agricultural land sales, along with weaknesses in the transparency of land rights and transactions, are major impediments to attracting investment and unlocking productivity in Ukraine’s agriculture sector.

The government of Turkey said it will deal exclusively with the Iraqi government on oil exports after voters in the semiautonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq supported independence in a controversial referendum.

Qatargas has agreed to sell 1.5 million tpy of LNG to Turkey’s BOTAŞ Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) over a period of three years

BP and its partners in Azerbaijan's giant ACG oil production complex agreed Thursday to extend the production sharing contract by 25 years to 2049 and to increase the stake of state-owned SOCAR, reducing the size of their own shares.

Turkstream has been promoted by Mr Putin as a way to deepenaccess to the Turkish market, which was the second biggest for Russian natural gas last year after Germany, and to support his strategic objective to bypass Ukrainian pipelines.