The May 15 presidential decree intends streamlining management of interstate oil transport, the press service of the Ukrainian president told RIA Novosti.
"Practice shows that his (special envoy's) presence has not led to a greater efficiency of the interstate oil transport system", notes the communique of the press service. "Throughout 2002--the first four months of 2004, despite the many decision taken by the cabinet of ministers of Ukraine and the Fuel and Energy Ministry, full-fledged commercial operation of the oil mainline Odessa-Brody never began", the document reads. The load on the other components of the Ukrainian oil transport system was a mere 52 percent of the rated capacity. At the potential capacity of 9 million tonnes annually, only 2.1 million tonnes of oil was pumped through the Yuzhny terminal. "As a result, the Ukraine's state budget is annually short of hundreds of millions of American dollars' revenue", stresses the press service.
"In this connection, as well as towards increasing the efficiency of the national (Ukrainian) oil transport system, creating in it a single managerial vertical, heightening the responsibility of ministries and departments for the conduct of the state policy in this sphere, further coordination of the Euroasian oil transport route project is immediately placed on the cabinet of ministers of Ukraine".
The institute of the special envoy for the Euroasian oil transport route was established in June 2001.
Construction of the 674 kilometre-long Odessa-Brody pipeline, having an annual throughout capacity of between 9 and 14.5 million tonnes, was over in May 2001. Its capacity is expected to be increased to 40-45 million tonnes annually. Oil is planned to be pumped along the Tenghiz (Kazakhstan)-Novorossisk (Russia) or the Baku (Azerbaijan)-Supsa (Georgia) pipeline and then carried by tankers across the Black sea to the terminal built in Odessa. Until now, the oil pipeline has not been filled with technological oil and contracts with suppliers and consumers of oil have not been signed.
Earlier, Ukraine and Poland agreed upon setting up a joint venture to build a spur from Brody in Ukraine to Plock in Poland. Representatives of the European Commission have voiced interest in realisation of the project.
