DTEK Renewables confirms no repayments of Guaranteed Buyer arrears

Ukraine’s biggest producer of “green” energy DTEK
Renewables (DTEREN) reported on Nov. 16 that it was the only company that has not
received payments from state company Guaranteed Buyer (GarPok) related to the
decrease of arrears accumulated in 2020-2021. Recall, state company Ukrenergo
(NPCUKR) directed
UAH 19.3 bln to GarPok last week to enable it to repay part of
its debt to green producers. On Nov. 15, GarPok reported that it had paid to
green producers UAH 16.3 bln, meaning about 15.5% of the reserved money had not
been paid. According to DTEK Renewables, total payables of GarPok to green
producers as of the beginning of November were UAH 27.6 bln, of which UAH 4.3
bln (about 15.6%) were payables to DTEK Renewables.

DTEK Renewables stated on Nov. 16 that it would “take
all legal measures available to it to investigate the situation, protect its
rights and demand prompt payment” from GarPok. It also stated that it receives
current settlements from GarPok (not related to Ukrenergo’s large payment) on a
pro-rata basis and it is servicing all its contractual debt obligations.

DTEK Energy stated it has not received any explanation
on the delay of payments from state companies or the ministry. Meanwhile,
Sergii Leshchenko, former investigative journalist and MP, who is now a
supervisory board member of Ukrainian Railways, provided his own explanation on
the issue. In his Nov. 15 blog, he revealed calculations that DTEK owes
Ukrenergo UAH 2.1 bln and owes Naftogaz (NAFTO) UAH 0.7 bln. “The state is
ready to pay UAH 3.5 bln, but the oligarch [Rinat Akhmetov, the owner of DTEK
holding] should repay his debts to the state of UAH 2.8 bln,” he wrote.

Alexander Paraschiy: Leshchenko’s
comments “on behalf of the state” look weird and have no link to reality: 1)
DTEK Renewables are unlikely to owe money to Naftogaz or Ukrenergo, 2) the
reason for non-payment to DTEK Renewables is purely political, not business.
Clearly, the idea of discriminating against oligarchs like Akhmetov is popular
among Zelensky voters, even though it is unlawful in this case. As we wrote before,
DTEK Renewables is almost certain to reinstate its rights in courts, as well as
is likely to get compensation for the discrimination – at the cost of government
or state companies.

One encouraging takeaway from DTEK Renewables’
statement is that other payments from GarPok (e.g. payments for the current
electricity sold) are being made regularly. This allows us to expect that the
discrimination in respect to the large payment from Ukrenergo was a one-off
event, meaning there is little risk for DTEK Renewables’ liquidity in the
future.