The Czech Cabinet yesterday chose not to respond to a document submitted earlier this week by the German side which contained an appeal for the re-considering of Temelin launch. Prime Minister Milos Zeman argued that, since the document had not been discussed by the German Cabinet, that it represents a view of the German environment ministry, and hence the Czech Cabinet need not respond. The PM also said that the government does not have any reason to doubt Temelin’s technical and environmental safety. The Czech Foreign Minister said that if the Czech government is confident of Temelin’s safety, it will go ahead with the launch. The outcome of the Cabinet meeting might reinforce CEZ’s share price recovery, though it may not be as strong as yesterday.
Also yesterday, Cabinet yesterday selected Deloitte & Touche as its power-sector privatization assistant. The assistant will is to submit its evaluation of bids by December 14, 2001, which is in line with the government’s intention to privatize CEZ and regional distributors by the end of the year. However, Jan Juchelka, the vice-chairman of the National Property Fund (NPF), said yesterday that completing power-sector privatization this year is unlikely.
And, separately, the Czech Press Agency reports that negotiations between CEZ and E.ON, the German utility, regarding the future of their power-supply contract were not concluded yesterday and will resume at an unspecified future date.
(Ondřej Daťka)