The proposed joint venture between Hungarian oil company MOL and Czech power generator CEZ has received all the necessary approvals from the European Commission and from relevant anti-monopoly authorities in Ukraine, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The establishment of the joint venture (JV) company is expected to be completed during summer 2008. The MOL-CEZ strategic alliance is reportedly continuing according to schedule and intentions declared in the preliminary phase of the project are being fulfilled.
MOL and CEZ have signed a strategic alliance agreement in December 2007. The equal stake JV, in which both parties will have equal voting rights, will focus on investment in gas-fired power generation facilities in Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia.
The first major investment is the planned construction of combined-cycle gas turbine plants at MOL refineries in Bratislava, Slovakia, and Szazhalombatta, Hungary. Installed capacity at each location will be 800MW. The expected investment of the initial projects will be approximately E1.4 billion.