“Photo by UNIAN The increase in the electricity transmission tariff is unfounded and will affect the competitiveness of Ukrainian enterprises. Meanwhile, Ukrenergo has ways to optimize costs, the application of which will give…”, — write: www.unian.ua
Photo by UNIANThe increase in the electricity transmission tariff is unjustified and will affect the competitiveness of Ukrainian enterprises. In the meantime, Ukrenergo has ways to optimize costs, the application of which will make it possible to restrain the increase in the tariff until the end of martial law. This is stated in the official letter of the “Ukrkoks” Association to the head of the National Energy Regulatory Commission (NRECP) Yury Vlasenko.“We appeal not to approve the draft tariff for electricity transmission for 2025 to UAH 665.27/MWh (+26% to the current tariff). Such an increase will lead to losses of the coke and chemical industry at the level of UAH 1.3 billion. Taking into account the war , energy and logistics crises, difficult market conditions for the industry, the tariff increase will have extremely negative consequences for the Ukrainian coke industry,” the letter said.
Ukrkoks also drew the attention of the energy regulator to the critical state of the metallurgical complex, which is the main consumer of products of the coke and chemical industry.
“At the moment, MMC is in a deep economic crisis, and therefore will not be able to pay the increased costs of coke chemical products due to the increase in electricity transmission tariffs. It is extremely important to note that the coke chemical enterprises themselves do not have sufficient financial safety margin to cover the growing costs of all resources,” the Association emphasized.
They emphasized that the increase in the electricity transmission tariff will create an additional burden on the entire industry and may lead to a reduction in production volumes and serious economic problems in the industry.
“According to experts’ calculations, the costs of the transmission system operator for the transmission of electric energy can be optimized to a large extent. Thus, the costs of returning borrowed loan funds should not be included in the tariff calculation. During the war, it is unreasonable to increase the tariff in order to pay off the loans of past years. Loans have to be restructured to postpone payments for the period after the end of martial law,” Ukrkoks said.
The volume of financial expenses of NEC “Ukrenergo” for the payment of interest on loans must also be reduced: including UAH 4.4 billion in the tariff for the payment of interest during the war is too heavy a burden for the coke industry.
“It is also necessary to optimize the costs of purchasing electricity to compensate for technological costs, because the volume of technological losses of electricity of 3 TWh.h laid down by Ukrenergo is overestimated. Taking into account the above, “UKRKOKS” calls on the NCRECP to implement a moratorium on the increase of electricity transmission tariffs until the situation in the metallurgical and coke industry,” the letter summarizes.
As you know, NCRECP has published a draft decision on increasing the electricity transmission tariff for non-household consumers by +25.8% to UAH 665.26/MW*h. Among the reasons given by the Commission for this decision is the need to raise salaries at Ukrenergo and make loan payments. At the same time, energy experts urged Ukrenergo to restructure its loans, as all state-owned companies do, and to optimize costs instead of raising tariffs.