March 1 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's finance minister Vladislav Goranov said on Thursday that the government is willing to acquire a controlling stake in CEZ's assets in the country, which the Czech energy group has decided to sell to a private Bulgarian company.
"The state has the option in one form or another - through budget funds or acquisition through one of the energy companies - to enter into such a deal," Goranov said in a video file posted on the website of BGNES news outlet. "[We may seek] a controlling stake at least."
CEZ Group said last week it signed a contract for the sale of its Bulgarian assets with Sofia-based Inercom for an undisclosed sum after the group's supervisory board granted consent to the transaction.
The Sofia-based news outlet Capital.bg reported on Thursday that the Bulgarian government will seek to acquire either 100% of CEZ's assets in the country being sold, or 34% of them.
Inercom is willing to agree on participation of the state in the deal, company owner Ginka Varbakova said in the video file after a meeting with Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov.
"Bulgarian banks do not participate in the deal," Varbakova noted in the broadcast on Thursday, adding that the financing for the acquisition of CEZ assets in Bulgaria will be provided by international banks and from Inercom's own funds.
Czech newspaper Lidove Noviny reported in its online edition on Tuesday that Sofia-based UniCredit Bulbank has pledged to provide financing of 180 million euro ($219.4 million), while Bulgaria's private First Investment Bank (Fibank) has committed to lending 80 million euro to Inercom for the acquisition of the assets of CEZ in Bulgaria. According to documents of the Czech group's supervisory board, the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) would refinance an existing EBRD loan to CEZ, Lidove Noviny said.
BDB said in a statement e-mailed to SeeNews that it had neither issued a guarantee, nor approved financing in the deal for the sale of CEZ's assets. Earlier this week, Fibank also denied it has committed to finance the transaction, while Bulgarian public radio BNR on Tuesday reported that representatives of UniCredit Bulbank declined to comment on the Lidove Noviny article.
The deal for the sale comprises seven companies - power distributor CEZ Razpredelenie [BUL:3CZ], power supplier CEZ Electro Bulgaria [BUL:1CZ], licensed electricity trader CEZ Trade Bulgaria, IT services company CEZ ICT Bulgaria, solar park Free Energy Project Oreshetz, biomass-fired power plant Bara Group and CEZ Bulgaria, which manages and coordinates the operations of the group's Bulgarian units.
Inercom manages seven solar parks in southern Bulgaria with a total capacity of over 100 MW.
($= 0.820 euro)