DTEK Energy CEO: Ukrainian energy companies should be able to work on European electricity market to restore their facilities

The situation in the Ukrainian energy market does not allow generating companies to cover their expenses for the repair and replacement of equipment damaged and destroyed by the war, so it is necessary to increase the possibility of their interaction with the European market as soon as possible, DTEK Energy CEO Ildar Saleev has said.

"Only for the direct restoration of equipment that was destroyed by shelling, our company needs over UAH 6 billion. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian market does not provide such finance. There were hopes that this would be partially possible through exports, and partially through paying off debts to the company," Saleev said at the online forum titled "One Year of Synchronization – Challenges and Achievements for Electricity Trade between Ukraine and its EU Neighbors" organized by the Energy Club on Thursday.

He also said NPC Ukrenergo, in particular, owed UAH 2.5 billion to DTEK Energy on the balancing market, and expressed hope for the expansion of interstate relations in order to commercially exchange electricity with European countries and thus increase the solvency of Ukrenergo in case of receipt of funds from the sale.

"If the funds that Ukrenergo receives for the cross section are used to pay off debts, then this is an additional impact on improving the financial situation within the company, and then in all types of generation to which it has debts," Saleev said, adding that to repair the destroyed equipment is needed as soon as possible to come more prepared for the next autumn-winter period.

The DTEK Energy CEO also said in general 2022 was unprofitable for the company, but refrained from disclosing the indicators, referring to the work of auditors on the annual report, which is ongoing.

"The final figures will be in the coming weeks. Our generation has big losses due to the market and military situation, losses and destruction of individual capacities," Saleev said, answering a question from Interfax-Ukraine.

He drew attention to the need for energy market synchronization between Ukraine and Europe amid technical synchronization, which took place on March 16, 2022.

"Today, we have taken steps related to technical synchronization, but there is a lot of work to synchronize the market one. Certainly, we hope for the convergence of the Ukrainian and foreign markets for further liberalization regarding price restrictions and market rules," the DTEK Energy CEO said.

In addition, he considers it necessary to improve the mechanism for holding auctions for the distribution of sections, which "today in some places limits the possibilities for their use."

According to Saleev, work with European countries is a financial opportunity to improve the situation for all types of generation that 'survived a rather harsh winter."

Source: www.en.interfax.com.ua