The Canadian Norex Petroleum has dropped out of the privatization tender for the state's 63% stake in Unipetrol for failure to meet the formal requirements, Czech Press Agency reported yesterday. Note that Norex Petroleum had not been considered a hot candidate.
A shortlist of bidders should be released in the coming days (note that the announcement was originally expected yesterday). The German-registered Efremov Kautschuk (acting on behalf of the Russian Tatneft), PKN/ConocoPhillips, MOL, Royal Dutch/Shell, KazMunaiGaz and Penta have submitted indicative bids.
Jan Hájek