BRATISLAVA, February 22, (WEBNOVINY) – The Cabinet voted on Wednesday not to give the green light to the completion of the legal unbundling of the company eustream, a.s. from its parent company Slovensky Plynarensky Priemysel (SPP), a.s. The approved material proposes to refrain from concrete steps before the third energy liberalization package is transposed into Slovak legislation.
The transfer of assets to the operator of the natural gas transit infrastructure eustream is part of the third liberalization package. This would fulfill one of the European Commission’s demands connected to implementing the third energy liberalization package on unbundling natural gas production and supply from operating transmission networks. SPP top management, comprising mostly of nominees of foreign shareholders, wanted to complete the unbundling process within the set deadline, which is the end of March. SPP general meeting is to decide on the process on March 8. However, the approval of eustream majority stockholder, which is the state via the National Property Fund, is required to greenlight the unbundling, too.
The transfer of assets related to the transit network from SPP to eustream, is the major and clear requirement stemming from the respective EU directive, SPP emphasizes. According to SPP spokesman Peter Bednar, delaying the process may negatively influence eustream’s operation, as well as the company’s possibilities to participate in new projects in the European context. The transfer of transit assets to eustream will not affect the state’s control over the ownership of the transport infrastructure, the spokesman said. „The company’s management will do everything it can so that eustream is prepared for certification by the deadline set by EU legislation (March 2012), but the decision itself is only on its shareholders,“ the spokesman concluded.
The Economy Ministry, which executes shareholder’s rights in SPP announced earlier that it would not support eustream’s unbundling, as the parliament failed to approve legislation to transpose the third energy package. “Until the elections, or until the third liberalization package is approved, we do not support and will not support the transfer of assets of the transit pipeline,” the ministry announced. The Cabinet approved the ministry’s position within its Wednesday’s decision.
The company eustream operates a transmission network with annual capacity of over 90 billion cubic meters. It commenced its activities on July 1, 2006 as a 100-percent affiliation of gas utility SPP after shipment services were unbundled. It employs approximately 900 people and posts annual turnover of over EUR 800 million. Fifty-one percent of SPP is owned by Slovak Republic and the rest is in the hands of Slovak Gas Holding B.V., a consortium consisting of E.ON Ruhrgas and GDF SUEZ.
SITA
