Greek PPC looks at Romania
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – All five suitors that expressed an interest in Romanian state-owned power distributors Electrica Oltenia and Electrica Moldova qualified to submit non-binding bids, the Economy Ministry said yesterday. The privatization of the electricity distribution companies is a key element in the restructuring of the Balkan country’s ailing power industry, as demanded by international lenders and by the European Union, which Romania hopes to join in 2007. The five qualified investors are Greece’s Public Power Corporation (PPC), Czech firm CEZ, Germany’s E. ON, Spain’s Union Fenosa International and US-based AES, the Economy Ministry said. This month, the country concluded a deal to sell another two power distributors, which together serve around 1.4 million customers, to Italy’s Enel, which would pay 112 million euros for 51 percent.
