The Czech government wants to buy a stake in the country's leading crude oil refinery, Ceska Rafinerska AS, to enhance energy security, the Deputy Minister of Energy said Thursday.
"The government would be interested in Unipetrol's stake in Ceska Rafinerska if it were up for sale," Tomas Huener said on the sidelines of an energy conference.
The refinery is majority owned by loss-making Unipetrol AS (UNIPE.PR), which is in turn controlled by Poland's PKN Orlen SA (PKN.WA).
"We have no such intentions to sell our stake in Ceska Rafinerska," said Unipetrol spokeswoman Blanka Ruzickova.
Unipetrol officials earlier said the company would divest non-core assets to return to profit, but it would like to increase its stake in the refinery.
Huener said the government is looking for ways to gain a degree of control in the energy sector in order to maintain the country's energy security.
For the same reason, the Czech state would also like to buy a minority stake in the TAL crude oil pipeline from Italy to Germany, he said, reiterating earlier statements.
Via state-owned companies, the Czech state is already a shareholder in the IKL pipeline that brings crude oil from Germany to the Czech Republic. The country gets most of its oil from Russia via the Druhzba pipeline.