Basha calls on parliament to reject CEZ agreement

TIRANA, July 31 – Calling a recent agreement between the Albanian government and CEZ “a criminal offense and mega-scandal of the [Prime Minister Edi] Rama government,” main opposition Democratic Party Chairman Lulzim Basha has held a last-minute press conference urging MPs of the ruling Socialist-led coalition not to vote to ratify the agreement.
The government and the Czech energy giant settled their disagreement over a botched privatization of Albania’s electricity distribution company amicably out of court for about 95 million euros
According to the government Albania’s losses in an international arbitration court could have been much higher.
But Basha says that the government is hiding critical facts and that in fact the losses to the Albanian state will be closer to $3 billion dollars, related to loans not used for their intended promises and missed investments.
“This is an illegal agreement and not transparent,” Basha said in a Thursday morning press conference.
“What is expected to happen today if Parliament approves, is a financial crime of unprecedented proportions,” said Basha. “This conflict with CEZ was resolved by negotiation in complete secrecy and by people in open conflict of interest.”
The Albanian government has touted the out-of-court settlement with CEZ over the botched privatization of the power distribution monopoly as a major agreement. Eighteen months after CEZ had its license revoked and just before an expected EU decision on Albania’s candidate status that could be endangered by a Czech Republic veto, the Albanian government and the Czech energy giant have reached an amicable out-of-court solution to the Albanian electricity distribution operator whose majority stake was sold to CEZ in 2009 for 102 million euros and managed for three and a half years by the Czech company until it had its Albania license revoked in January 2013.
Under the deal signed by the Albanian government and CEZ, whose 70 percent stake is owned by the Czech government, Prague-based CEZ will get in annual installments in the next four years a total of 95 million euros, an amount slightly lower to its initial investment in the Albanian distribution system, but half of the 200 million euros CEZ had warned it would claim in international arbitration proceedings.
The deal mediated by the Vienna-based Energy Community foresees that CEZ will receive a compensation of Euro 95.5 million as payment of receivables and transfer of shares in its CEZ Shperndarje subsidiary. This is in addition to Euro 4.5 million already received by CEZ. The amount will be paid in annual installments until 2018.