Slovakian PM Changes Mind on SPP Sale

The Slovakian Prime Minister, Robert Fico, has unblocked the sale of a 49 per cent stake in Slovakian transport company SPP, a week after saying he would not allow the sale.

Last week, Prime Minister Fico said that he would not allow the sale to go ahead if he did not get a guarantee from stakeholders GDF Suez and E.ON Ruhrgas that gas prices for Slovakian customers would not be raised next year. The government, which holds a 51 per cent stake in SPP, making it the majority shareholder, objected to GDF and E.ON's plan to raise prices by between 18.5 and 25.4 per cent.

The turnaround from the PM comes after Czech company, Energeticky a Prumyslovy Holding (EPH), which is buying E.ON and GDF's joint 49 per cent stake in SPP, promised not to raise prices next year.

"The obstacles that kept the government from discussing the sale were removed," Expatica reports the prime minister as saying. "EPH pledged to keep gas prices for households unchanged as of next year... We did everything to keep gas prices from going up."

EPH has been in talks to acquire SPP since earlier this year, having confirmed its interested in March 2012.