Turkey's Karpowership, a subsidiary of Karadeniz Holding, shut down electricity generation units in Lebanon as the dispute with the country could not been resolved, a company official said.
A Lebanese financial prosecutor decided to seize power units of Karpowership, Fatmagul Sultan and Orhan Bey, and fined them with $25 million, Lebanese media reported.
The company had denied the accusations and said the legal action was baseless adding that they did not receieve any legal notification, but, instead, they learned the decision from media reports.
As the Lebanon state has not take any effective steps to resolve the problem, the ships in Lebanon began shutting down electricity generation today at 08.00 am, the company’s spokesperson said Friday.
Fatmagul Sultan and Orhan Bey power units have an installed capacity of 404 megawatts in total, meeting country’s around 25% of electricity needs.
The company has been operating in Lebanon since 2013.
'We deeply regret shutting down and went to great lengths to avoid it. For 18 months, we have been exceedingly flexible with the state, continually supplying power without payment or a payment plan, because the country was already facing very hard times,” the spokesperson said.
“However, no company can operate in an environment with such direct and undue risk.'
The amount of Lebanon’s debt accumulated over $100 million during 18 months.
By Nuran Erkul Kaya
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr