The Turkish company Karpowership has shut off the generators of the ships that provide Lebanon with electricity.
The company announced the move in a statement on Friday.
It said it was sorry to turn off the generators of the ships, “after we tried our best to avoid such a decision.”
“For a period of 18 months, we dealt with total flexibility and leniency with the Lebanese state, and kept on providing power without getting paid our dues and without any payment plan.”
Karpowership explained that it had been flexible because Lebanon was going through “very difficult times.”
“However, no company can operate in such an environment, an environment fraught with direct and unjustified risks,” it concluded.
The decision to halt power generation comes a few days after the Turkish firm threatened to do so, in protest over the Lebanese decision to detain the Turkish power ships.
Lebanon detained the ships last week, in line with an investigation into potential briberies and corruption related to them.
The Turkish ships cover around 40% of Lebanon’s power consumption, in exchange for $850 million per year.
