State seeking €200 million from Enel

THE STATE will ask Enel to pay €200 million that it owes for privatising the electricity producer Slovenské Elektrárne (SE). The reason is that financial commitments and receivables between the state and the Italian firm, which owns a 66 percent share in SE, have still not been settled, the TASR newswire reported on September 23.

THE STATE will ask Enel to pay €200 million that it owes for privatising the electricity producer Slovenské Elektrárne (SE). The reason is that financial commitments and receivables between the state and the Italian firm, which owns a 66 percent share in SE, have still not been settled, the TASR newswire reported on September 23.

Meanwhile, the Economy Ministry ordered the National Audit Office (NKÚ) to launch an investigation into the management of SE regarding the construction of the Mochovce nuclear power plant.

The state wants to discuss the payment of the €200 million with Enel before it sells its majority share in SE, Economy Ministry spokesperson Miriam Žiaková told the press after the session of the parliamentary committee for finances and the budget.

“Before the sale takes place, we will want to end the privatisation and we will refer to the analysis which discusses the balance payment,” Žiaková said, as quoted by TASR.

The parliamentary committee also discussed the investigation of SE during its session. The NKÚ is to review documents pertaining to the completion of the second and third reactors of the nuclear power plant in Mochovce and the related hike in the cost to construct them, as reported by the public-service Slovak Radio (SRo).

Independent MP and former finance minister Ivan Mikloš proposed reviewing the balance payment, but Smer MPs did not support this.

“They want to check one thing, but not the other one, which should obviously be a subject of the inspection,” Mikloš said, as quoted by TASR.

He also pointed to the still unfinished sale of SE with respect to Enel’s plans to sell its share in the company.

“I consider it absurd that after nearly 10 years the privatisation is still not finished and the MPs of the ruling party refuse to vote for [the proposal] that the NKÚ … should look into whether the steps of the government were alright and why the whole process is not finished yet,” Mikloš added.

The committee also dismissed a proposal by independent MP Jozef Kollár, who wanted the NKÚ to scrutinise the feasibility study for the completion of the third and fourth reactors of the Mochovce power plant.

Daniel Duchoň of Smer, the chair of the committee, explained that the planned review is already extensive. He said they will not require the NKÚ to look into something that is not in the final resolution. The NKÚ, however, promised to also deal with the opposition’s proposals, as reported by TASR.

SE has not commented on the situation yet. Enel responded that as the negotiations over the balance payment are still underway, they will not comment on it yet, the SITA newswire wrote on September 24.

Source: TASR, SITA

Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports

The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.

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