According to the spokesperson, the company is continuing the international investment arbitration that ČEZ has been conducting against the Bulgarian state since 2016.
–
CEZ is listed on the Prague Stock Exchange. Its shares there at 16:22 added 0.85 percent to 596 crowns apiece.
–
The completed sale includes seven Bulgarian companies of the ČEZ Group: CEZ Bulgaria, CEZ Elektro Bulgaria, CEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria, CEZ Trade Bulgaria, CEZ ICT Bulgaria, Free Energy Project Oreshets and Bara Group.
–
Kříž also reminded that ČEZ’s departure from Bulgaria began in 2017 with the sale of the decommissioned Varna coal-fired power plant.
–
According to him, CEZ’s total income from the sale of Bulgarian assets thus exceeded ten billion crowns, and the group leaves Bulgaria with a positive cash balance exceeding one billion crowns.
–
“In addition, the settlement of the sale has no impact on the independently running international investment arbitration vis-à-vis the Bulgarian state. For ČEZ and its shareholders, the arbitration claim therefore represents an additional potential return, ”said Tomáš Pleskač, a member of the ČEZ Board of Directors, on Tuesday.
–
CEZ is suing the Bulgarian state for failing to comply with the conditions to which it has committed itself during privatization and the obligations that the country has set itself in relation to the energy market upon its accession to the European Union in 2007.
–
CEZ entered the Bulgarian market in 2004, at the same time as the Austrian EVN, the German E.ON and other European energy companies, which began investing in the country with the expectation that the energy market would be liberalized.
–
CEZ purchased part of the Bulgarian distribution system, and in 2006 it bought a power plant in Varna. However, after disputes with the Bulgarian authorities, he decided to leave the country, and activities in the country are gradually being reduced or terminated by other foreign energy companies.
–
The majority owner of ČEZ is the state, which owns 70 percent of the company’s shares through the Ministry of Finance.
–
The acquiring company Eurohold Bulgaria AD is the largest Bulgarian publicly traded company and its shares are traded on the Sofia and Warsaw stock exchanges.
–
Eurohold is headquartered in Sofia, a subsidiary of the group operating in the field of insurance, leasing, car sales, asset management and investment services in 12 European countries.
—
