Final Word from Tuesday, January 10, 2012
At the end of last year, ČEZ acquired 67% of Eco-Wind Construction of Poland, withan option to buy the remaining 33%. ČEZ didn't name the sellers or the price, butTrakcja-Tiltra of Poland and its largest shareholder, Comsa SA of Barcelona, held acombined 50%. The sellers of the other 50% aren't clear. Eco-Wind has 24 windfarmprojects with total capacity of 889 MW. It's worth noting that ČEZ is building a 660MW windfarm in Romania for €1.1bn. This potentially puts the value of the Polishinvestment at well over €1bn, although some reports suggest that it was considerablyless. The point is that Czech taxpayers don't have any idea how their electricity tax isbeing spent. It's in the interest of Martin Roman, as ČEZ's supervisory-board chairman,to prove to the public that there aren't any unreported related-party transactionsinvolved in this deal. All he has to do is reveal the other sellers of Eco-Wind.
Glossary of difficult words
to throw money to the wind - to spend money without much concern for the efficiency of the expenditure;
related-party transaction - a business deal or arrangement between two parties that are joined by a special relationship prior to the deal.