EVN and CEZ demand increase in power prices

The Austrian based EVN and Czech owned CEZ are putting pressure on the governments of Balkan countries to increase the price of power to consumers. The two companies are the largest power exporters to Balkan countries and control a large part of the power transmission lines. A representative for EVN declared that the current price policy is dangerous and destabilising for the entire region.
Nevertheless, the Albanian, Bulgarian, and Romanian governments have refused to increase the price charged for power. For governments fear that an increase in energy prices is going to cause a voter backlash and cost them in national elections. However, specialists are worried that low power prices, i.e. low profits for the power companies, are going to dry up investments in the energy sector.
The price of energy supplied to resident consumers in the Balkan countries is still 30 to 40 percent lower than the price paid by consumers in Western Europe. At the same time, control of the Balkan energy market by large power companies, like EVN and CEZ, has forced Balkan governments to pay up to Euro 80 per kWh, or almost twice as much as Western governments. In the last instance, the price is paid by individuals, not as consumers, but as citizens through their taxes. (Tirana Times Staff)