Czech competition authority begins reviewing state-owned ČEPS's purchase of RWE Gas Storage

The Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) has begun reviewing the purchase of RWE Gas Storage, which operates six gas storage facilities in Czechia, by ČEPS, the state-owned operator of the Czech electricity transmission system. The authority announced the move on its website. The government approved the purchase a week ago. ČEPS will pay RWE, the German parent company, 360 million euros, equivalent to CZK 8.68 billion.

„The proposed merger concerns, in particular, the natural gas storage sector. No decision has yet been issued in the above-mentioned case,“ the authority said.

The transaction will be decided in so-called simplified proceedings. A decision will therefore be issued within 20 days.

The underground storage facilities have a combined capacity of 2.7 billion cubic metres and should cover around 36 percent of annual consumption. According to Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS), the aim of the acquisition is to gain control over the handling of gas.