May 17 (SeeNews) - Czech power utility CEZ Group said on Wednesday it has started negotiations with selected investors on the sale of its assets in Bulgaria.
"Following the assessment of investor interest in Bulgarian assets of CEZ, a. s., CEZ Group decided to enter into negotiations with several chosen entities that placed the best offers," the group said in a statement without elaborating.
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CEZ Group assets in Bulgaria includes CEZ Distribution Bulgaria AD, the public supplier of electricity and a licensed trader CEZ Electro Bulgaria, licensed electricity trader CEZ Trade Bulgaria and Varna thermal power plant. The operations of those companies are managed and coordinated by CEZ Bulgaria EAD.
Last week, Romanian energy minister Toma Petcu said in a video interview for news portal DCnews.ro that local power supplier and distributor Electrica had placed an offer to purchase CEZ's assets in Bulgaria.
In January, CEZ Group announced it had decided to study the options related to its equity investments in Bulgaria, based on the interest of several unnamed investors. It did not elaborate.
In July 2016, CEZ Group said it has filed a request for international arbitration worth hundreds of millions of euro against Bulgaria over the country’s failure to observe the investment protection provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty. CEZ Group added it had has repeatedly asked the Bulgarian government for speedy rectification of that state of affairs and for compensation for the damage caused, recalling that in November 2015 it had sent a notice to the Bulgarian government, in which it requested amicable settlement of the dispute.