Application of a negative interest rate related to accounts with long-term deposits
Dear business partner,
we would like to inform that the bank in which the accounts are held for the purpose of depositing advance cash deposit as a financial security for the settlement of imbalances and for the short-term market, has announced a decision to apply a negative interest rate to these accounts from October 2020. The bank's decision reflects the long-standing situation in the financial markets, where the reference rates are in the negative range.
The bank will apply a negative interest rate at the level of – 0,4 % p.a.
Regarding stated above with effect from the 30th October 2020, OKTE, a.s. will inform you about the amount of incurred costs resulting from charging interest on the deposit with by negative interest rate by making the document available in OKTE 's information system by the 15th day after the end of each calendar quarter. The costs incurred must be reimbursed to OKTE, a.s. on the basis of an invoice issued to you by OKTE, a.s. which will be made available in the OKTE 's information system and sent by e-mail to the address specified in Annex no. 1 of the Agreement on Settlement of Imbalances, respectively Agreements on access and conditions of participation in the short-term cross-border electricity market. The invoice shall become due and payable within 14 calendar days from the day it was made available in OKTE 's information system. For the first time, OKTE, a.s. will issue the invoice in January 2021 for the previous calendar quarter. If this invoice is not paid, OKTE, a.s. will be entitled to use the deposit for its payment at the earliest on the first working day after the due date of the unpaid liability.
In view of these new facts, we are preparing a change to the Operation Order of OKTE, a.s. and the amendment to the relevant agreements, which will describe the application of the negative interest rate to long-term deposit accounts. In the context of the change mentioned above, we would like to draw your attention to the possibility of switching the financial security to a bank guarantee as permitted by the valid Operating Rules of the Short-term electricity Market Operator. The payment guarantee template is provided on https://www.okte.sk/en/imbalance-settlement/contracts/ and https://www.okte.sk/en/short-term-market/contracts/.
Yours sincerely.
OKTE, a.s.