You're reading: Energoatom’s deficit in 2014 tops Hr 1 billion due to weaker hryvnia – CEO

The deficit of Energoatom in 2014 will exceed Hr1 billion due to the significant weakening of the hryvnia, company president Yuriy Nedashkovsky has told reporters in Yuzhnoukrainsk.

“There is the question of financial security. Earlier we thought we are financially secured, but, unfortunately, you see quite a serious increase in the exchange rate… More than UAH 1 billion is the deficit, which was formed only due to the exchange rate differences. The tariff [of Energoatom] was seriously overvalued and increased at the beginning of the year, given the rate of Hr 9 with some kopecks, and now we are buying foreign currency for Hr 13. This difference is not taken into account in our tariff,” he said.

This year Energoatom has also fallen short of over Hr 1 billion owed by Energomarket for purchased electricity, Nedashkovsky said.

“Payments from Energomarket have failed: electricity is now shipped to the area occupied by militants, but no payment has arrived from there. The government should make a decision. I think we should cut off that region to prevent the formation of a non-payment gap. It also means a lack of working capital for us,” he concluded.