Oligarch Rinat Akhmetov’s DTEK, the largest private electricity producer in Ukraine, made the threat on Nov. 17. The state-owned Guaranteed Buyer asked Oschadbank to freeze the $115 million originally intended to pay off its debts to DTEK.
On Nov. 12, Guaranteed Buyer, a company responsible for buying up renewable electricity, approved the allocation of $738 million to pay off controversial debts to producers. The money was raised through Eurobonds.
The head of Guaranteed Buyer, Kostyantyn Petrykovets, was fired the following day. He claimed his firing was linked to his refusal to redirect the funds.
Guaranteed Buyer paid off $623 million worth of debts to green energy producers. DTEK was the only producer which didn’t receive its repayments, according to Ekonomichna Pravda. DTEK threatened both domestic and international arbitration as a result.