Cabinet is to discuss the privatization of CEZ and Unipetrol at its next regular meeting on Wednesday

Cabinet is scheduled to discuss the privatization of CEZ and Unipetrol at its next regular meeting on Wednesday. The fact that the issue of CEZ privatization is back on the Cabinet agenda could indicate that the two key ministries involved — finance and industry — have found agreement on basic privatization principles (when to sell CEZ, whether to sell CEZ together with power distributors, whether to spin CEZ’s transmission grid out of CEZ, whether to hire an advisor). The two ministries have in the past disagreed on these issues, leading to numerous delays in Cabinet. Even a modest yet tangible outcome (e.g., a decision to hold a tender for an advisor) of Wednesday’s meeting would be very good news for CEZ. The same applies for Unipetrol. Given the Cabinet’s track record of postponing decisions, it is advisable to wait for the outcome of the meeting.

(Ondřej Daťka)