January 30 (SeeNews) - Shares of the listed Bulgarian subsidiaries of CEZ Group opened higher on Monday following an announcement that the Czech power utility will probe the market in relation to its equity investments in Bulgaria, Sofia bourse data showed on Monday.
CEZ Distribution Bulgaria's [BUL:3CZ] shares rose by 9.84% to 240.001 levs (131.2/122.7) as 496 of them changed hands as of 10:42 CET, a check on the website of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) showed.
Shares in CEZ Electro Bulgaria [BUL:1CZ] rose by 9.59% to 24,000.00 levs as of 10:42 CET on the BSE as just one share change hands.
CEZ Group owns 67% of both companies as well as Varna thermal power plant with installed capacity of 1,260 MWh.
On Friday, CEZ Group said that based on the interest of several investors it has decided to examine the market in relation to its equity investments in Bulgaria.
In July 2016, CEZ Group said it has filed a request for international arbitration worth hundreds of millions of euro against Bulgaria over its failure to observe the investment protection provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty. The group said at the time that the situation in the Bulgarian energy sector was critical and "especially the pricing decisions of the local regulator have not been, on a long-term basis, in line with the expectations at the time of the privatization process."
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)