Czech Company ČEZ has officially filled charges against Albania to International Arbitrage Court asking a compensation for damages caused by “unprotected investment” in Albanian company.
According to the words of Czech Electric Power Utility spokesman, Barbara Pulpinova, amount required as compensation for caused damage has not been stated yet, but the charge does not exclude a possibility of eventual extrajudicial agreement, press agencies report. Albanian press agency Balkanweb is manipulating with a number of 199 million EUR in the meantime.
Albanian Regulatory Department for Energy (ERE) has taken the license away from Czechs at the end of January this year because of not accomplishing all obligations from the contract for export of electricity and investments for improvement of electrical network which is more than a half century old.
Next to Albanian accusations on ČEZ’s addressee, this company has many difficulties with payment of the bill for used electricity and it confronted with big damages from steeling substations and transmission lines. ČEZ asks from Albanian public companies and households more than 122 million EUR for used electricity. For example, payment of the bill for used electricity in north part is over 10% and it amount around 2% near Kuks city. On the other side, loss in electrical network, mostly from illegal connecting to the network, amounts 35%. 300 million worth amount of electricity was stolen in Albania last year.
ČEZ became the owner of 76% of shares for 103 million EUR from Albanian electrical distribution in mid 2009 and it was chosen as most profitable bidder.
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisa was saying back then that privatization of Electrical Distribution is historically most successful what completes the process of privatization of the most significant companies. Berisa said then that ČEZ is saver of Albanian Electric Distribution Sector which is part of Albanian Electric Corporation (KEŠ).
