Political game - Nečas on problems of ČEZ in Bulgaria

Prague, March 19 (CTK) - The situation in Bulgaria in which chief prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov has asked for the revocation of licence from the Czech CEZ energy company is a political game, Prime Minister Petr Necas has said, daily Pravo writes Tuesday.

"I am deeply convinced that that the entire case of CEZ is a political affair," Necas is quoted as saying.

The Czech state has the majority stake in CEZ that is the sole electricity distributor in the western part of Bulgaria.

"If you look at the structure of energy prices in Bulgaria, you find out that rather than the CEZ distributor, renewable sources have a much higher share in their growth," Necas said.

"Besides, we can only speculate how close Tsatsarov is to former prime minister Boyko Borisov who has in fact set the whole case into motion," Necas said.

The accusations raised by Tsatsarov against CEZ have not been investigated by any independent regulatory office, he added.

"No one but an independent regulator can revoke a licence. We can only hope that Bulgaria will proceed in keeping with the principles of rule of law and European standards," Necas said, adding that the Czech Republic recently advocated Bulgaria's membership of the Schengen system of free movement of people in Europe.

Borisov's government resigned on February 20 in reaction to mass protests against high prices of electricity in the country, which were partly targeted at the local branch of CEZ.

Bulgarian authorities launched proceedings against CEZ that may lead to the withdrawal of the licence for power distribution in Bulgaria.

CEZ rejected any major shortcomings saying that prices of electricity in Bulgaria are set by the regulatory office. Higher consumption of electricity and higher electricity bills were due to cold weather and a longer accounting period in December, its management has said.