Ministry quiet on potential acquisition of Slovenské Elektrárne

The Economy Ministry does not yet want to clearly state whether it wishes to bid for the purchase of a 66 percent stake in Slovenské Elektrárne, the Slovak dominant electricity producer that the Italian group Enel is offering for sale. "Primarily, we have in recent months concentrated on negotiations with Enel regarding the completion of units three and four at the Nuclear Power Plant Mochovce. It was important to negotiate the terms and the setup of control mechanisms. We will still negotiate on further steps", said the spokeswoman for the Economy Minister Miriam Žiaková. Some time ago the Economy Ministry said it would prepare an analysis for the Cabinet of pros and cons of a share buy-back into the hands of the state. Potential investors can still send their offers to buy the 66 percent stake in Slovenské Elektrárne. Enel will wait for offers from potential buyers until the beginning of next year. The Italians did not want to comment yet on how many offers they have already received and who sent them. In early November, however, Enel admitted that they had received three binding offers. Subsequently the Czech energy group CEZ and the refinery Slovnaft together with Hungarian company MVM Group confirmed sending their offers.