By KYIV. Dec 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Damage to DTEK Energy by late 2022 could amount to UAH 20 billion, which is a record figure, CEO of the company Ildar Saleev said.
"Over ten months of 2022, DTEK Energy’s thermal generation loss is UAH 17.6 billion. By the end of the year, we forecast a loss of UAH 20 billion. This will be a record loss for the company," he said in an interview with Forbes Ukraine.
According to Saleev, in January-November, a drop in electricity supply amounted to 28%, which is associated not only with shelling, but also with a drop in consumption by about 30%.
He noted that the company’s losses as a result of the destruction of its thermal power plants by the shelling of the Russian aggressor affect the ability to restore power facilities after regular attacks, which can lead to an increase in power shortages in the system and, as a result, longer power outages.
According to his calculations, Ukraine now needs dozens of transformers, and the cost of one can reach $5 million.
At the same time, the CEO pointed out that DTEK Energy already had contracts for the supply of electrical equipment with European companies, in particular, ABB, Siemens, among which the priority is that which can be quickly delivered.
"We have already delivered some equipment to Ukraine. But this does not cover the needs. We cannot order some transformers because there is no money. We also buy equipment from domestic manufacturers," Saleev described the situation.
In addition, according to him, the company is in dialogue with the European Energy Community, other partners and European energy companies, the equipment from which should be delivered to Ukraine in the coming weeks.
"This is backup equipment or used one. It will cover our needs by 10-15%. Unfortunately, there are no large autotransformers in this list," Saleev specified.
At the same time, the CEO of DTEK Energy noted that now the company sees an opportunity to buy back part of the debt (we are talking about the buyback of eurobonds maturing in 2027 for a total of $50 million), which will reduce its debt burden in the future.
"This will increase investment costs, which have grown due to the need for constant repair work. We see that we are no longer investing within the limits of the investment portfolio that were agreed with creditors. Creditors’ demand is that with an increase in investment, the debt burden should be reduced," the head of DTEK Energy said.
He explained that the funds for the buyout are reserve ones, they were frozen for these needs at the end of last year.
"Every year we spend almost $100 million on debt servicing. We have already spent part of it in the first half of the year. These funds can only be spent on servicing our debts or on its redemption," Saleev said.
At the same time, according to him, DTEK Energy has not yet redeemed the debt, but will make a decision on this following the tender.
