CEZ AS (BAACEZ.PR), a central European power company based in the Czech Republic, Wednesday said it faces delays to its expansion in Romania due to politicking ahead of general elections there.
The Czech company aims to increase its market share in electricity sales and distribution in Romania by buying stakes in existing power companies and by taking part in construction of new electricity generation and distribution sources.
Yet, Romanian government officials aren't moving forward on the planned continuation of the privatization and liberalization of the local power market because politicians have renewed support for the state-owned power utility to garner votes in general elections scheduled for later this year, Jan Veskrna, head of CEZ operations in Romania, said at a press conference.
Ahead of elections, politicians are making "full 180 degree turns (in the policy of privatization and electricity sales) from what their position was when CEZ entered the market in 2006," he said.
CEZ had earlier succeeded in winning a tender for a 15% stake in the construction and operation of a new nuclear power generation unit at Cerna Voda in Romania, said Jan Pleskac, head of CEZ's international division, but due to the political situation, the contract hasn't been signed and Romania's state-run power utility is complicating the deal.
"But the project isn't threatened," Pleskac said, adding that the deal only requires further negotiations ahead of signing contracts.