The CEZ head of M&A, Vladimir Smalz, said yesterday that the company will submit bids for the three power plants in Bulgaria with a total capacity of 2,290MW (estimated price of EUR 250m). In Poland, the company is targeting the Odra and Kozienice power plants and a minority stake in the second-largest Polish power plant, PAK. CEZ is also interested in the privatization of Polish coalmines and power plants and distributors in Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro. Smalz also said that he expects competition in privatization tenders to increase, in particular in the Balkans, ahead of Romania’s and Bulgaria’s entry into the EU. Finally, Smalz repeated that CEZ may raise up to EUR 3bn for acquisition without increasing the company’s D/E above 0.3. All acquisitions must be realized before 2010, after which CEZ needs to replace 5700MW of its capacities at an estimated cost of CZK 150bn.