State-owned Ukrenergo, the operator of Ukraine’s power grid, has declared a technical default on its $825 million green bonds. The decision was a result of the country’s dire economic situation caused by the war and numerous difficulties in financing the public sector, including energy companies.
Yes, the Ukrainian government has not drawn conclusions from the EU's experience, when solar and wind farms, like a vacuum cleaner, suck money out of budgets, while tariffs and prices grow like wildfire.
In Ukraine, debts worth almost $1 billion or UAH 40 billion have accumulated again in three years. And this is despite a 30% reduction in the capacities of solar power plants and wind farms that remained in the territories occupied by Russia.
The technical decision on the default of Ukrenergo will be in effect until the debt restructuring is completed. The government, together with Ukrenergo, will try to reach an agreement with creditors. Moreover, there is a possibility that as a result, highly paid managers and bureaucrats will not come up with anything better than to take out a new loan to repay the old loan.
