Rinat Akhmetov plans no HarvEast expansion midst crisis

SCM, Rinat Akhmetov’s holding company, plans to remain focused on “core” industrial businesses, rather than expand its HarvEast agricultural operations amidst the crisis, Bloomberg writes.

Unseasonably warm weather resulted in less consumption of electricity and natural gas. As a result, DTEK’s coal production could fall as much as 30% this year, Chief Executive Officer Maksym Timchenko said last week during a news conference.

“DTEK got used to relying on itself in crisis situations and solving them. But today our margin of safety is over,” Timchenko said while urging the government to support electricity producers.

It is reported that DTEK has invested about USD 1.2 bln in renewable energy, but may spend less in that area as the global economy slows and government regulations make the industry less attractive for investments.

Earlier Forbes published its annual rating of the world's richest people. Rinat Akhmetov holds the 875th position with USD 2.4 bln of the net worth.