Centrenergo paid private firm 132 million hryvnias for coal for its power plants that was never delivered – Bihus.Info. VIDEO
PJSC Centrenergo paid 132 million hryvnias in advance to the private company Teplosfera UA LLC under a coal supply contract. However, the company not only failed to fulfil its obligations but also did not return the money.
This was reported in a Bihus.Info story citing court case files, Censor.NET notes.
Journalists note that PJSC Centrenergo is one of the country’s largest energy companies, producing both electricity and heat. The state owns 78% of the company, which operates the coal-fired Trypilska, Zmiivska and Vuhlehirska thermal power plants.
Coal was not delivered
In September 2024, Centrenergo signed a contract with Teplosfera UA LLC for the delivery of 33,500 tonnes of coal for the Trypilska and Zmiivska TPPs.
"The contract was concluded under a simplified procedure without an open tender, as it was intended to secure coal supplies for the TPPs ahead of the heating season. The company received a 132 million hryvnia advance, but missed the delivery schedule, supplied only 1,500 tonnes and failed to return the remaining unused advance payment," the report said.
Centrenergo therefore filed a lawsuit, and the court ruled to recover 127 million hryvnias from the company, including the principal debt, penalties, interest and other charges.
What the court ruling says
Bihus.Info found that during the proceedings the judge identified a number of factors that called into question not only the supplier’s good faith, but also that of Centrenergo itself – and even the coal procurement system for TPPs as a whole. The judge outlined these issues in a separate ruling.
In particular, the judge established that the advance payment was not required – the contract envisaged payment after delivery. An advance could be issued only if the supplier provided guarantees, but instead of a bank guarantee, the company submitted a simple letter that carried no legal weight and secured nothing.
Moreover, journalists report that Centrenergo told the court it had signed the contract with a private company because state-owned coal producers allegedly had no coal available.
"However, after requesting additional explanations, the court discovered that Teplosfera purchased coal precisely from state-owned producers. Moreover, the intermediary signed contracts with these producers only after concluding the deal with Centrenergo, after the so-called guarantee letter and even after part of the advance had been paid. In other words, at the time of signing the contract, Centrenergo had neither safeguards for its funds nor any guarantee of receiving the coal at all," the report said.
Ultimately, as the journalists note, once it emerged that the price the company paid to buy coal from the mines was equal to the price at which it sold it to Centrenergo, the judge concluded that the lack of commercial logic could indicate the supplier never intended to perform the contract and simply wanted to misappropriate the advance payment.
The judge treated all these findings as evidence of a systemic shortcoming in Centrenergo’s overall operations and therefore issued a separate ruling addressed to the Cabinet of Ministers, calling on it to regulate procurement procedures and related risks, with a particular emphasis on buying coal produced by state-owned mines directly for state-owned energy companies.
"However, the Ministry of Energy replied that the country has free economic competition, which it cannot restrict," Bihus.Info noted.
What is known about the supplier
- The reporters said that the owner of Teplosfera UA LLC is Ihor Kachmar, who until recently was also a co-owner of another problematic supplier, Energo Resurs Group LLC. This company also received a large advance but delivered part of the coal in substandard quality, and is now required by a court ruling to return 240 million hryvnias to Centrenergo.
- In addition, according to the court register, another supplier, Optenergotorg LLC, owes Centrenergo 77 million hryvnias. This company delivered less than half of the contracted coal and, like Teplosfera, failed to return the remaining advance.
