CEZ confirmed on Friday that it had submitted a preliminary bid for a 49% stake in Slovenske elektrarne (SE), the dominant Slovak power producer. In line with previous information, CEZ is interested in all SE´s assets (i.e., both the conventional and nuclear power plants). The number of bidders should be officially announced today and the privatization advisor should inform the privatization agency which of them satisfied all the tender conditions by the end of this week.
Besides CEZ, the American AES, RAO UES of Russia, the Austrian Verbund, the German E.ON, the Italian Enel, Electrabel of Belgium and British International Power reportedly submitted their bids
Separately, Industry and Trade Minister M. Urban told Reuters on Friday, that the Cabinet might offer Slovakia a stake in CEZ if CEZ wins a privatization tender for a 49% stake in Slovenske elektrarne. The Cabinet holds 67.7% of CEZ, it wants to keep more than 50%, and is considering either floating some CEZ shares or a swap for a stake in SE (Mr. Urban indicated that should this scenario happen, the transferred stake would be much smaller than 16%, though, more likely some 3%).
Also separately, personnel agency Dr. Kaufman&Partner will probably help CEZ to choose a new CEO; the agency should reportedly find candidates within two months (CTK).
Jitka Oppitzová