Albania Settles Czech Power Company Dispute

Albania and the CEZ Group announced on Tuesday that they had reached an amicable agreement over the renationalisation of the power company, which will see the Tirana authorities paying what has been estimated to be tens of millions of euro in damages.

“The settlement agreement resolves all claims between the CEZ Group on the one hand and the Republic of Albania on the other hand relating to CEZ’s investment in CEZ Shperndarje and the Albanian energy sector,” they said in a joint statement.

The CEZ Group, a multinational corporation is among the ten largest energy companies in Europe, both in terms of installed capacity and number of customers.

CEZ bought Albania’s largest utility company in 2009 for 102 million euro, promising fresh investments and a drive to cut losses and stem theft from the grid.

But in January 2013, Albania’s Energy Regulatory Agency stripped the local subsidiary of CEZ of its operating license, effectively taking it back into state control.

The decision, which confirms the nationalisation of CEZ Shprendarje, was the latest twist in a long dispute between Tirana and the Czech company over unpaid debts.

CEZ launched an arbitration case against Albania, seeking more than 200 million euro in damages.

Local media reported on Monday that Albania has agreed to pay the CEZ group 90 million euro in damages.

However, both the company and the government said they would only disclose the settlement after its final approval by the national authorities.