Belviport not to buy CEZ shares due to situation in Ukraine

Prague, Feb 25 (CTK) - Czech billionaire Pavel Tykac's Belviport Trading Limited will not buy another 1.67 percent of shares of energy group CEZ in addition to its 1 percent stake given market conditions and the geopolitical situation in Ukraine, Patria Finance, which coordinates the transaction, told CTK today.

Belviport notified the Czech National Bank of getting a 1 percent share in CEZ in early February. This Tuesday, Belviport announced the intention to buy up to nine million CEZ shares, which would amount to about Kc7.5bn, given Tuesday's closing value of the power producer's shares on the Prague Stock Exchange.

After the Russian army attacked Ukraine on the night from Wednesday to Thursday, however, all European stock markets were hit by sell-offs.

The Prague Stock Exchange's PX index fell by 4.77 percent to 1,338.34 points on Thursday, which was the most significant daily drop in nearly two years. CEZ closed at Kc830 per share, down 3.88 percent from the morning.

CEZ, the largest Czech energy company, is majority owned by the state, which holds about 70 percent via the Finance Ministry.

Tykac owns Belviport Trading Limited, a company based in Cyprus, via company Clamount Investments Limited. He is also the owner of Czech energy company Sev.en Group, which includes brown-coal power plants Chvaletice and Pocerady, two heating plants and two brown-coal quarries in northern Bohemia.

hel/er/tam