11/6/2023 1:57 PM, BAACEZ
In an interview with Hospodsk noviny, Minister of Finance Zbynk Stanjura was not specific about the issue regarding the EZ, that is, about its potential transformation and gave effect to the windfall tax.
It is clear from his opinion that the government will not want to avoid decisions about the transformation of the EZ. While the two media entrances of political representatives could reveal that the concrete entrance regarding the restructuring of the EZ could be known by the end of this year, today Stanjura is not talking about a concrete time frame. The situation is so open. Whether in the end there will be some form of merger of the company, control of the company (and e.g. subsequent separation of distribution, it would then be listed again on the stock exchange) or EZ will remain in the same form as before, so it will be the subject of further political negotiations and debates. The ambiguity of the further procedure is also evident in the current approval process of the Act on the Money of Commercial Companies and Cooperatives (the so-called lex EZ), its deliberation by the constituent-first committee of the Chamber of Deputies was postponed several times.
The primary reason for considering the transformation of the EZ is the planned construction of a new nuclear unit in Dukovany (and the fall of other units). In this regard, there is a need for an amendment to the contract between the state and EZ signed in 2020, providing EZ with a basic guarantee and guarantee regarding the construction of the new block. At this time, the project of building a new core is covered by these contracts. Even according to our opinion, I wrote to someone that the political representative has not yet come up with a concrete issue regarding the restructuring of the EZ and is giving himself room to make a decision.
As for the windfall tax, today’s interview did not bring anything new in this regard. The government will evaluate the situation in the course of the first half of the fifth year (Stanjura is talking about running) and will decide on the further fate of the extraordinary tax payer accordingly. In the meantime, the windfall tax must be paid for the years 2023 2025, when the government of the coalition government allowed this period to be shortened. Today’s interview with the Minister of Finance is neutral from the perspective of the EZ action.
Jan Raka, analyst, Fio banka, as
