LN: ČEZ wages war with Albania

ČTK |

4 September 2012

Prague, Sept 3 (CTK) - The Czech CEZ national power company has threatened that it will cut its supplies of electricity to state-owned water management companies in Albania, daily Lidove noviny (LN) writes yesterday.
Albanian authorities have called on CEZ to pay [an equivalent of] half a billion crowns as an additional tax, LN writes.
"We will cut state-owned companies from the electric current as they owe us over one billion crowns for unpaid electricity bills," the daily quotes CEZ managers as saying.
The business in Albanian has become a nightmare for CEZ, LN writes.
Even Prime Minister Petr Necas's recent intervention in Albania and an appeal of the World Bank have not helped, it adds.
Albanian authorities have imposed an additional tax of 23 million euros on the company CEZ Shpernadrje, the Czech firm's daughter company in Albania, LN writes.
The authorities insist on the payment although CEZ was not paid for its electricity, it adds.
As a result, it must still pay the VAT and income tax to the Albanian state, LN writes.
"CEZ absolutely rejects this approach," CEZ spokeswoman Barbora Pulpanova is quoted as saying.
On the other hand, CEZ has adopted a tough approach to those who fail to pay for its electricity, LN writes.
It has threatened to cut the supplies to the state-owned water management companies in order to have the debts of the total sum of 1.1 billion crowns repaid to it, it adds.
Pulpanova said the extreme means had succeeded.
The Albanian government has paid at least a part of its debt, LN writes.
However, electricity is drawn in Albania illegally not only by state-owned companies.
In the past months, CEZ Shpernadrje (CEZ Distribution) disconnected from its network whole villages, in which no one paid for the delivered electricity, LN writes.
In some cases, the villagers physically attacked the company's employees, it adds.
Due to the problems, the Albanian daughter company has run into financial difficulties, LN writes.
In its annual report from 2011, CEZ warned that if conditions for business do not change in Albania, it will lose up to ten billion crowns there in the next three years, it adds.
The unfair conditions have affected Czech-Albanian relations, LN writes.
Necas and Industry and Trade Minister Martin Kuba spoke in favour of CEZ during their April visit to Tirana, it adds.
Kuba said he would deal with the situation with the company management this week, LN writes.
CEZ has drawn the Czech state into its legal and political war with Albania, LN writes in its commentary on the issue.
Should Necas's visit to Tirana mean that this state should be called CEZka republika (instead of Ceska republika), as the foreign minister sometimes says jokingly? it asks.
After all, CEZ is a state-owned company, its billions are also our billions and to defend state interests abroad in a sensible extent is among the duties of all prime ministers, LN writes,

http://praguemonitor.com/2012/09/04/ln-%C4%8Dez-wages-war-albania