(source: Sme)
“Due to the general election, we do not expect its founding anytime soon,” spokeswoman of the Economy Ministry Miriam Žiaková told the SITA newswire in early February.
The ministry even admitted that the holding has never exceeded the form of a mere idea.
“To this day, no specific document that would move the establishment of such a holding to the level of feasibility has not been elaborated,” Žiaková stated.
The government of Robert Fico considered establishing a state energy holding already during the term of its first economy minister, Tomáš Malatinský. The holding was meant to administer all state shares in energy companies.
Through this holding, the state also sought to buy back shares of energy companies which foreign investors may have wanted to sell in the future. Ex-minister Malatinský admitted, however, that buying back shares was not the primary idea of this project.
The primary idea was that through such a holding, the state would be able, for example, to underwrite shares through the stock exchange at a lower rate, and invest thus gained resources e.g. in the development of the Slovak heating sector.
