Prime Minister Milos Zeman was quoted by Reuters yesterday as saying that the future owners of energy and chemicals groups would have to hold the acquired stakes for at least 10 years following privatization.
This additional privatization condition was expected to be applied in the case of CEZ, and therefore should not have a negative impact on CEZ stock.
Surprisingly, the same condition should be applied also in to the Unipetrol privatization tender, according to Reuters’ information. Since it is likely that some of the bidders intend to form a consortium and split Unipetrol after privatization, the restriction could complicate the privatization. Negative for Unipetrol stock.
(Jiri Soustruznik)