DTEK was fined UAH 275 million for abuse of monopoly position

The Antimonopoly Committee (AMCU) fined DTEK Zakhidenergo and D.Trading of Rinat Akhmetov's DTEK group UAH 275.2 million for abuse of monopoly position in Burshtyn TPP Island in July-October 2019, the AMCU press service reports.

The AMCU recognized the DTEK group's actions in the Burshtyn TPP trade zone in the analyzed period from July to October 2019 as abuse of monopoly position.

Burshtyn TPP Island is a special zone in western Ukraine within Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, and Zakarpattia regions. Now this territory is integrated with European power systems but disconnected from the rest of Ukraine. PJSC DTEK Zakhidenergo produces about 90% of the electricity on this "island."

The Committee established that DTEK Zakhidenergo JSC, starting from July 29, 2019, reduced the volume of offered electricity during the hours of minimum load in applications for electricity sale in the day-ahead market (DAM) segment. This led to increased sales volumes of DTEK Zakhidenergo JSC on the balancing market at higher prices.

Besides, the joint-stock company set inflated and economically unjustified prices in applications for the sale of electric energy on the DAM during peak load hours. Such actions could not have been done without preserving significant shares of DTEK Zakhidenergo JSC. This was facilitated by the practice used by D.Trading LLC, restricting the access of imported electricity from the territory of Slovakia to the Burshtyn TPP trade zone. During July - October 2019, the company bought out most of the throughput, which led to a decrease in the share of imported electricity and, accordingly, an increase in the share of DTEK Zakhidenergo on the territory of Burshtyn TPP Island.

D.Trading LLC itself also benefited from these actions, establishing, in bilateral agreements, the binding of prices for electric energy to prices formed on the DAM.

“Everyone who lives or works on the energy island territory was affected by such actions of energy companies. Businesses directly received significantly higher tariffs and significantly lost competitiveness. Citizens were partially protected from the appetites of power engineers, as they were covered by PSO, a mechanism for public service obligations on market participants to ensure electricity availability for the population. However, they also felt the rise in the price of electricity, because every penny of growth in the cost of a kilowatt was reflected in the cost of most goods produced in these regions, "the message says.