CEZ terminates a contract to sell its Bulgarian assets to Inercom

CEZ announced that it has terminated a contract to sell its assets in Bulgaria to Inercom due to "unlawful obstructions" by Bulgarian authorities.

Inercom’s acquisition of CEZ Bulgaria was blocked last July by the Commission for Protection of Competition on anti-monopoly fearing that Inercom will dominate the country’s market. The regulator's decision was appealed before the court by both CEZ and Inercom.  

CEZ started the selling of its assets in 2017 and signed an agreement with Inercom in February 2018. The deal was valued at some 326 million euro.

After the deal was blocked by the Commission for Protection of Competition, Inercom divested its renewable energy portfolio and asked the regulator to look into the deal again. The authority, however, awaits until the Supreme Administrative Court rules on the complaints filed by the Inercom an CEZ originally.

The assets of CEZ in Bulgaria comprises the following:
Power utility CEZ Distribution Bulgaria, power supplier CEZ Electro Bulgaria, 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.

CEZ has also received binding offers for its assets in the country from Eurohold and India Power and said it would analyze them. In December 2018, CEZ announced that it plans negotiations with India Power, but the deal with Inercom remains valid.