Ekonomický deník: Czech ministry prepares state gas holding

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) is preparing the creation of a state gas holding company and plans to separate NET4GAS and Gas Storage CZ from the state-owned transmission system operator ČEPS. The ministry told Ekonomický deník that the establishment of the gas group is in the preparation phase. State-owned ČEPS bought gas storage operator Gas Storage CZ and pipeline operator NET4GAS from foreign owners last year. The state expects the purchase to strengthen domestic energy security.

„Bringing gas assets together in a separate group is one of the forms being considered for their further development. The decision on the specific course of action will depend on negotiations between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and other ministries – including on whether it should also include a state energy trader,“ ministry spokesperson Vojtěch Srnka told the website.

ČEPS also considers itself the temporary owner of the two gas companies. „The company acquired these two subsidiaries (Gas Storage CZ and NET4GAS Holdings) solely for the purpose of their subsequent separation from the Company in line with the intentions of the owner – the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic,“ ČEPS said in its annual report, adding that it is not yet known when the separation will take place.

The new company does not yet have a name, according to the website. However, its sources say it is virtually certain that the new holding will acquire ownership of the backbone gas pipeline network, namely NET4GAS, and the main operator of underground gas storage facilities in Czechia – Gas Storage CZ. It could also take over stakes in the LNG terminal in Eemshaven, the Netherlands, and the terminal under construction in Stade near Hamburg, which the ČEZ Group acquired in recent years, the daily writes. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the new gas holding could also include a state energy trader, but the problem, as the website wrote, is that no decision has yet been made on whether such an entity will be created and what it will do.

State-owned electricity transmission system operator ČEPS recorded a net profit of CZK 3.95 billion last year, recovering from a loss of almost CZK 3.2 billion the previous year. These are so far unconsolidated financial results and therefore do not include companies such as NET4GAS and Gas Storage CZ. While Gas Storage CZ more than tripled its operating profit last year to nearly CZK 1.4 billion, NET4GAS fell to a loss of CZK 1.7 billion.