Head of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) Yuriy Terentyev says the committee does not consider Ukraine’s largest private energy holding DTEK – controlled by businessman Rinat Akhmetov – to be a monopolist on the electricity market.
“The mere fact of having a significant market share is not enough. The electricity market is now regulated, with limited competition. In conditions of limited competition provided by Ukraine’s National Energy and Utilities Regulation Commission (NEURC), we cannot say that the company abuses the monopoly position when all commercial decisions are made by the government agencies,” he declared.
On the current electricity market, Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Ministry sets electricity supply volumes, state-run Ukrenergo provides dispatching, while the only buyer is the state-owned enterprise Energorynok, and the NEURC sets prices.
In December 2018, the AMCU concluded that DTEK had power on the electricity market, but was unable to use it. The case probing DTEK’s possible monopoly position was closed.
The AMCU investigation began in 2015 and lasted for three years. According to the committee’s report, DTEK’s share in the country’s power generation in 2015-2017 did not exceed 26%.
“It couldn’t be said that the company is abusing the monopoly position,” Terentyev said. (UNIAN/Business World Magazine)
