The supervisory board of gas storage company Nafta Gbely on September 10 approved a government proposal to buy sister firm Nafta Trade.
The agreement, which was due to be signed September 16, overcomes the final hurdle in returning a 45.9% stake in Nafta Gbely from its owner, Druhá Obchodná, to the FNM national privatisation agency.
According to the deal, the state will acquire all shares in Nafta Trade for a symbolic one crown, and will take over all of Nafta Trade's debts.
The 45.9% Nafta Gbely stake was sold by the FNM under former Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar to Trnava businessman Vladimír Poór for one sixth of its market value in 1996. Re-acquiring the stake had become a mission of sorts for the current government.
At a special meeting on September 7, Nafta Gbely shareholders elected representatives of the FNM and the state-owned gas distributor SPP to the supervisory board, in keeping with a gentleman's agreement struck between the FNM and Druhá Obchodná in August.
