CEZ Faces Nov 30 Deadline to Complete Sale of Assets in Bulgaria to Inercom

Czech energy group CEZ told SeeNews on Thursday that the contract for the sale of its assets in Bulgaria to Sofia-based Inercom has November 30 set as deadline for wrapping up the deal.

"The long stop date for the fulfillment of all the Condition precedents is defined in the contract signed between CEZ and Inercom," Alice Horakova, CEZ press officer, said in an e-mailed statement in response to a SeeNews enquiry.At present, CEZ and Inercom are both challenging the decision of Bulgaria's anti-trust regulator to ban the transaction.

In July, the anti-trust body banned the deal, saying it will lead to the establishing of a dominant position on the photovoltaic energy generation market. Later that month Inercom and CEZ appealed the decision before Bulgaria's Supreme Administrative Court. Subsequently, Inercom sold its photovoltaic business in order to address the concerns of the competition authority and asked for the start of new proceedings.