Photo from UNIAN
Not a single kilowatt-hour has been sold beyond auctions set up by the government over the two weeks, according to Nedashkovsky.
President of Ukraine's national nuclear energy generating company Energoatom Yuriy Nedashkovsky has said the opportunity for Energoatom to sell electricity produced in a competitive market, instead of the obligation imposed to sell 90% of the resource at lower prices at auctions, would reduce the cost of electricity for industrial consumers in Ukraine by at least 30%.
"Not a single kilowatt-hour has been sold on ordinary auctions over these two weeks, as stipulated by the government's decree. Thus, industrial consumers were, in fact, cut off from cheap electricity. According to our calculations, depending on the tariff for distribution services in each region, they could receive electricity at a price at least 30% cheaper," he said during the round table "Launch of the wholesale electricity market: first results and challenges."
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According to Nedashkovsky, imposing an obligation on a state-owned company to sell 90% of electricity at auctions violates Energoatom's right to equality in selling electricity in all market segments and does not contribute to having nuclear energy being the cheapest for all consumer categories.
"Under the pressure of price speculation for industry, Energoatom was additionally charged with the obligation to sell at special auctions, in fact, at dumping electricity prices to compensate for technological losses by distribution system operators and transmission system operators, and this is about 90% of the total volume of electricity supplied. Therefore, Energoatom may sell on market conditions only what we have left, that's 10%," Nedashkovsky said.
As UNIAN reported, according to the government's decision of June 12 on imposing special obligations, Energoatom must sell no more than 90% of its electricity at a fixed price, while Ukrhydroenergo must sell no more than 35%.
A new electricity market was launched in Ukraine on July 1 under the Electricity Market Law, the draft of which was passed by the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, in April 2017. The law provides for the introduction of more competitive relations in the energy market, and meets the requirements of the European Union's Third Energy Package.