Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmygal visited "Turboatom"

On August 13, 2020, during an official visit to the Kharkiv region, the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, together with the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister for Strategic Sectors of the Economy Oleg Urusky, Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Krykliy, interim Energy Minister Olga Buslavets and KhRSA Chairman Oleksiy Kucher visited "Turboatom”. The meeting was also received by People's Deputies and representatives of energy enterprises of Ukraine, among whom were the General Director of "Ukrhydroenergo” Igor Syrota, acting director President of the SE NNEGC "Energoatom” Petro Kotin; and Chairman of the Board of PJSC "Donbasenergo” Eduard Bondarenko.

General Director of JSC "Turboatom” Viktor Subotin acquainted the guests with the production capacities of the enterprise, manufactured equipment and reported on the indicators of the financial and economic activities of the plant.

During the visit, representatives of the authorities visited the steam turbine, hydroturbine, blade and assembly and test workshops. This was followed by a working meeting chaired by the head of the Government on topical issues of the development of Ukrainian power engineering and modernization of the Ukrainian power industry with the participation of Kharkiv enterprises JSC "Turboatom” and SE "Electrotyazhmash”.

As the Prime Minister noted, "Turboatom” is one of the largest turbine-building enterprises in the world, and its products can compete with world manufacturers. "The government will help Ukrainian machine-building enterprises to receive new export contracts. We will actively use the Export Credit Agency, which will help them promote their products abroad and enter new markets,” – Denys Shmygal said. He also added that economic development will stimulate domestic demand. "The government will also develop legislative proposals that will allow Ukrainian producers to have simplified access to credit resources,” – the Prime Minister said.

Finally, Denys Shmygal thanked the "Turboatom” team for their work, noting the important role of the enterprise in world production.

"Once again, I was convinced that the products of Ukrainian enterprises can compete in the world market. It is a great advantage for Ukraine to have such a manufacturer. Therefore, it is a state issue to lend a shoulder and provide the necessary support,” the Prime Minister summed up.

According to Olga Buslavets, partnership relations between energy companies and domestic industrial producers have prospects and opportunities for intensification. "Cooperation of industrial "giants” with generating companies will contribute to the construction of a new energy infrastructure in Ukraine," the interim Energy Minister concluded.

In turn, Viktor Subotin appealed to the Prime Minister of Ukraine with a request to support the Ukrainian power engineering industry and keep the production of equipment for the domestic market: "Having a working Ukrainian power plant complex, we do not agree under any circumstances to give the manufacture of turbine equipment to foreign competitors.”

The General Director of "Turboatom” noted one of the important issues for the enterprise: "At the end of last year, an additional payment of dividends to the state in the amount of 40% (additional payment of a part of net profit up to 90% based on the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers) practically destroyed us, in total we paid 1.1 billion UAH from a sales volume of 2 billion, and were forced to take a loan from a bank for the first time in 13 years. This year, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine declared unconstitutional the norm of the relevant law, on the basis of which a part of the net profit was paid to the state without a decision of the general meeting of shareholders. Consequently, the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers to pay an additional 40% of net profit to the state for 2018 is illegal, in light of this today "Turboatom” appeals to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine with a request to transfer UAH 230 million. (+ 40%) paid in December last year against dividends for 2019.

He also stressed that now there is a risk of disruption of the contract terms for PJSC ”Ukrhydroenergo” due to the failure of SE "Plant "Electrotyazhmash” to fulfill its contractual obligations. "We propose to conclude a contract with "Electrotyazhmash”, according to which "Turboatom” will acquire raw materials and materials, manufacture parts of the generating equipment according to the technology and drawings of ETM, attracting qualified specialists and leasing the necessary production facilities of "Electrotyazhmash”. After the equipment is manufactured, the "Electrotyazhmash” technical control department will accept it and ship it according to the terms of the contract. Thus, we will avoid penalties in the amount of 10% of the contract price, which amounts to UAH 5.6 billion”, – Viktor Subotin said.