OREANDA-NEWS. Kirovogradoblenergo (KION) intends to invest UAH 50 mln ($10 mln) into development in 2008, which is 2x higher than the sum approved for this year. The lion’s share of investment will be used for modernization of its grids, substations and junction points (70% of the total), analysts of Alfa Capital Ukraine point out.  In particular, KION plans to reconstruct 150 km of 0.4 kV grids and fix two substations – Berezivka and Bobrynetska. In addition, the company wants to allocate UAH 750,000-800,000 ($150,000-158,000) for IT development and another UAH 3.5 mln ($0.7 mln) to finance telecommunications equipment.

"These capital expenditure (CAPEX) plans are in line with our expectations. Although KION's investment program still must be approved by the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), we view this news as evidently positive for the company’s investment case," the experts emphasized.