DTEK cooperates with investigators studying purchases from ATO zone

A Dnipropetrovsk local court ruled on Oct. 13 to allow a financial review of coal purchases made by DTEK’s (DTEKUA) power generation company Dniproenergo, the nashigroshi.org news site reported on Nov. 4. The State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claims there could be evidence that coal purchases from occupied Donbas conducted in 2014 and early 2015 were converted by coal supplier Donatratsyt into cash in order to finance terrorist activity, the ruling said. DTEK-Dniproenergo is controlled by magnate Rinat Akhmetov, while the intermediary, Eastern Coal-Energy Company, is owned by Olena Limonko, the report said. Donantratsyt is controlled by a Cyprus offshore company and Victor Vyshnevetskyy, the majority owner of Warsaw-listed coal miner Coal Energy (CLE PW). The inspection should be completed by Nov. 6, according to court ruling.

In response, DTEK issued a Nov. 4 statement saying the court’s finding of the company’s involvement in financing terrorism is baseless. DTEK is actively cooperating with law enforcement authorities and ready to offer all necessary information, the statement said. “DTEK conducted and conducts activity exclusively within Ukraine’s legal sphere,” the statement said. “The company doesn’t have agreement with enterprises registered on territory not controlled by the Ukrainian government.”

Alexander Paraschiy: To its credit, DTEK is one of few Ukrainian coal miners that re-registered its companies from the occupied territory to Ukraine and officially reports on coal mining activity on the occupied territory to Ukrainian regulators. Clearly, the company has had interaction with the Russian-backed terrorists. Yet given that DTEK’s owner, Rinat Akhmetov, is being closely examined by the government, we are sure that DTEK has become very cautious in signing any deals with companies operating in the ATO zone. Therefore, we do not see a tangible risk that the related inspections will have negative consequences for DTEK.

Akhmetov has been long suspected of financing the Russian-backed terrorists. That more investigations aren’t in the pipeline lends fodder to the theories that he has behind-the-scenes agreements with the Ukrainian government. It’s possible this ruling was able to emerge because of the big influence on Dnipropetrovsk held by Igor Kolomoisky, who is a fierce rival to both the Ukrainian president and Akhmetov.

Источник: Конкорд Капитал