ČEZ wants mine Vršany as collateral from Czech Coal

Prague, March 3 (CTK) - Energy company CEZ demands from company Czech coal of billionaire Pavel Tykac to put up its mine Vrsany as a collateral in the talks about coal supplies which are currently under way, online weekly Tyden.cz. announced Sunday.

Coal supplies for CEZ will be from mine Vrsany until all coal deposits in the mine are exhausted.

Two independent sources have confirmed the information about CEZ's demand for this to magazine Tyden.

"It is being solved," a source from CEZ close to the talks said. "Both sides demand guarantees that the other party will not back off," the source added.

Czech Coal spokeswoman Gabriela Sarickova Benesova said "she could not comment on such details". CEZ would not comment on the information, either.

"No agreement has been signed. We will not comment on anything," CEZ Group spokeswoman Barbora Pulpanova told CTK.

According to an earlier statement of CEZ spokesman Ladislav Kriz from the end of February, there is an 80 percent probability that the contract could be signed next week.

Power plant Pocerady will be getting 6 million tonnes of coal annually from mine Vrsany for roughly 30 to 50 years until the deposits are exhausted. Its value is over Kc200bn, daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) wrote on February 22 citing several sources.

The contract also contains a non-aggression pact, according to the paper.

The power plant's long-term contract expired at the end of 2012. For several months last year, both sides were trying to agree on prices for this year.

It now ensues from the contract that the purchasing price of brown coal will grow to Kc39 per a gigajoule. In the future, the price will be tied to prices of black coal.

An option agreement on possible sale of the second largest Czech thermal power plant Pocerady to Pavel Tykac is being drafted in great detail, according to HN.

Experts say that the agreement is advantageous for both sides. If anybody could be described as a loser, it is Energeticky a prumyslovy holding, a joint company of the PPF and J&T groups and manager Daniel Kretinsky.

Energeticky a prumyslovy holding has also been embroiled in a long-lasting dispute with Czech Coal over coal prices and supplies for its company Elektrarny Opatovice.