The Austrian National Committee (the lower house of parliament) rejected a proposal, which have would bound the Austrian government to obstruct the accession of the Czech Republic into the EU related to the Temelin nuclear power plant. Separately, Guenter Verheugen, the European Commission’s representative, said that the Austrians should abandon their efforts to halt Temelin, also stating that an international conference on Temelin is unlikely to take place (source: Czech Press Agency). Positive news. Such could help to diminish the negative sentiment that surrounds the stock mostly due to Temelin-related uncertainties.
The Czech Press Agency also reports that turbine problems have occurred at the Melnik coal-power plant; it is not clear at the moment how long the needed repairs will take. CEZ started to supply electricity from its reserve capacity. Neutral, or downside if a capacity shortage occurs.
Separately, the HN daily reports today that minority shareholders in regional power distributors, which will be privatized with CEZ as one asset, could block the privatization to a strategic partner. The resulting privatization delay would not be good news for CEZ stock.
(Jiří Soustružník)