Deputy minister says Ukraine will raise biofuel capacity in 2009

Ukraine plans to put into operaion a number of biofuel plants in 2009 in order to raise its overall green fuel production, deputy Agricultural Minister Oleksander Shevchenko said on Friday. The country currently has some 50 facilities, each with a capacity to manufacture up to 25,000 tonnes (183,250 barrels) of biodiesel annually, he added. Meanwhile, Ukraine plans to build a facility in the eastern Donetsk region, which will have an output of 300,000 tonnes of biofuel a year. The country will also develop a project, backed by Czech investments, on the reconstruction of a sugar plant in the western town of Kamyanets-Podilsky, aimed at reaching an annual production of 75,000 tonnes of green fuel. Currently, there are four domestic spirits makers that have launched bioethanol production, including the Barsky, Lokhvytsky, Luzhansky and Gaysinsky distilleries, which have an overall capacity of 36,000 tonnes per year. Another six alcohol producers are to introduce bioethanol blending in 2009, Shevchenko added. According to the deputy Minister, domestic biofuel production will be further promoted by a law drafted in May, currently pending the President’s approval. The law envisages the abolition of state monopoly on bioethanol manufacture, as well as future opportunities for biogas production. (June 16, 2009)