August 13 (SeeNews) - Czech energy group CEZ said on Tuesday that it is planning to sell its assets in Romania, Poland and Turkey and complete the sale of assets in Bulgaria by the end of 2022.
The company lists the completion of the sale of its assets in Bulgaria and of generation and distribution assets in Romania, Poland, and Turkey as part of its updated strategy, CEZ said in a presentation of the group's non-audited consolidated financial results for the first half of 2019.
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"The goal is to sell those assets by the end of 2022. The assets’ contribution to CEZ Group’s annual 2018 EBITDA was CZK 5.5 billion ($238 million/213 million euro)," the company said.
The updated strategy from 2019 to 2025 envisages a stronger focus on the domestic market and exit from segments and markets with unattractive prospects.
In May, Czech media quoted GEZ CEO Daniel Benes as saying the group plans to sell its assets in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and Turkey. "Within the new strategy, we have the ambition to leave Bulgaria in the coming years," business daily newspaper Hospodarske Noviny quoted Benes as saying in an interview at the time.
CEZ Group has been present in Romania since 2005, when it took over national distribution company Electrica Oltenia. It currently serves over 3.5 million customers locally through nine companies: Distributie Oltenia, CEZ Romania, CEZ Vanzare, CEZ Trade, CEZ ESCO Romania, Tomis Team, MW Invest, Ovidiu Development, and TMK Hydroenergy Power.
In June, financial and insurance group Eurohold Bulgaria [BUL:4EH] said that it has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of CEZ in Bulgaria for 335 million euro ($378.9 million).
CEZ's assets in Bulgaria comprise power utility CEZ Distribution Bulgaria [BUL:3CZ], power supplier CEZ Electro Bulgaria [BUL:1CZ], licensed electricity trader CEZ Trade Bulgaria, IT services company CEZ ICT Bulgaria, solar park Free Energy Project Oreshetz, biomass-fired power plant Bara Group and CEZ Bulgaria.
(1 CZK=0.0387 euro)