The company Česká energetická a plynárenská announced on its website that it is no longer able to supply gas and electricity to its customers. She said that the reason was not fluctuations in energy prices, but the end of the partner company Manta Commodities SE, which ensured supply deviations. She announced the end of her activities at the beginning of the week and cited the “collapse of the banking institution” as one of the reasons.
The company Česká energetická a plynárenská has almost 1,300 consumption points. In his statement The company said it had purchased energy for customers and was able to overcome extreme increases and fluctuations in energy prices in recent times. The problem occurred on the part of the so-called subject of settlement of deviations.
The deviation clearing entity, which is active in the wholesale European market, is no longer able to supply the energy company. “Regarding the inability of the subject of settlement of deviations to deliver the contracted and paid energy, we did not find out properly until March 20, 2022 in the evening, ie without room to act in this unprecedented situation,” the company specified.
He adds that for a limited period, but no longer than six months, the supplier of customers will automatically become the supplier of last resort (DPI), without interruption of supply. “Within six months, it is necessary to arrange deliveries with a new supplier,” the company adds.
The subject of settlement of deviations is the company Manta Commodities SE, which announced the end of activities at the beginning of the week. As a wholesaler, it offered electricity and gas to other energy suppliers. According to the Electricity Market Operator (OTE), Manta Commodities SE itself had no consumption points.
Its end may thus affect not only Česká energetická a plynárenská, but also other suppliers for whom the company provided energy supplies and took responsibility for the deviation.
Responsibility for deviation means that the responsible company must balance the immediate consumption of customers, which at the time does not correspond to the planned consumption. These are short-term fluctuations that smaller suppliers do not pay to deal with on their own.
“In the context of this, OTE invites suppliers who have transferred responsibility for the deviation to Manta Commodities SE to make a change of clearing entity at the relevant points of purchase,” the market operator states on the website.
It is not yet clear how many suppliers still operate under Manta Commodities, the company will allegedly issue a statement by the end of the week.
The company’s director Petr Beneš told ČTK that the reason for the termination of energy supplies to other suppliers is the current geopolitical situation, the collapse of the banking institution and the requirements for extreme financial security for the purchase of commodities. The collapse of the bank means Sberbank.
Sberbank paid for its Russian origin. Its end was rapid in the Czech Republic. People took the bank by “attack” due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, began collecting their savings and transferring accounts to other banks, and on February 28, the Czech National Bank (CNB) revoked its license.
All the money of clients, whether citizens or companies, or municipalities and regions, remained “frozen” in the bank, and it was not until 9 March that the Financial Market Guarantee System began to pay them to clients through selected branches of Komerční banka. The payout process is still running and far from over.
A number of energy suppliers have announced the termination of deliveries since last autumn. The largest of them was Bohemia Energy, which ended on October 13 and had about 900,000 clients. The reason for the end of most suppliers was the extreme rise in energy prices in the markets. Amper Market is also scheduled to close this year.
In the case of electricity supplies, the suppliers of last resort are currently, depending on the specific region of E.ON Energie (southern part of the Czech Republic), Pražská energetika (Prague and the surrounding area) and ČEZ Prodej (central and northern Czech Republic). For gas, E.ON Energie (South Bohemian Region), Pražská plynárenská (Prague and the surrounding area) and innogy Energie (rest of the Czech Republic).
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