Concern grows in Albania over Prague’s potential EU veto over CEZ dispute

TIRANA, June 12 – There has been concern in Albania this week over reports in Czech media that Prague could block the granting of the EU candidate status to Albania over a dispute between the CEZ Czech state-controlled power utility and the Albanian state.
Last year, Albania stripped CEZ of the license for the country’s power utility and since then they are in an international arbitration process. Several media outlets cited unnamed officials saying Prague was ready to veto Albania’s bid for candidate status at the end of the month.
Czech officials later clarified for Albanian media that likely wouldn’t be the case but Prague sees the protection of its interest in this case as very important.
Last week, it was the European Commission that recommended Albania be given the status but it will be up to the EU summit later this month to give the final decision. All 28 EU member countries should agree on that.
According to CTK, the official Czech news agency, Prague is unhappy with the fact that the talks between Albania and CEZ in Vienna have led nowhere. It sent a signal to Albania some time ago, indicating that this dispute might affect the approval of its candidate status.
In January 2013, the Albanian regulator revoked the local distributing company CEZ Shperndarje’s license. A state administrator was installed at the helm of the company as a result of which CEZ lost control over the distributor.
CEZ launched an international arbitration case against Albania on the basis of an the Energy Charter Treaty, which both the Czech Republic and Albania ratified and which sets the rules of international investments protection in the energy industry.
CEZ demands more than 200 million euros in damages for Albania’s failure to protect its investment in CEZ Shperndarje.
Tirana, on its side, says that Czechs had not complied with the license terms as they have not made the investments it required them to.