CEZ Group

196 metres high chimney of Tusimece I power plant (ETU I) will come to the end of its operational life once and for all today. The chimney will be blasted within the demolition of the shut-down ETU I plan. A heap of debris of reinforced concrete weighing more than 10 thousand tons will remain of the past dominant of the plant.

CEZ Power Company, as the owner and operator of brown-coal fired plants in the district of Usti, has prepared an extensive program concerning renewal of the production platform, whose life span ends after 2010. CEZ Power Company is going to rebuild completely its coal-fired plants in Tusimice and Prunerov. Ledvice and Pocerady, the localities of the present plants, have been chosen for the new plants. CEZ is going to invest more than 100m CZK into the resources renewal.

CEZ Power Company reached operating profit of 14,959bn CZK in the first three quarters, which represented a year-on-year increase of 60 per cent. Net profit amounted to 13,420bn CZK, which was a year-on-year increase of 94 per cent. The increase in net profit was mainly influenced by dividends received from daughter companies in the amount of roughly 4bn CZK. Company´s revenues rose by 4bn CZK, costs fell by over 1.5bn CZK.

CEZ Power Company has today submitted a tentative, not binding offer for the Polish coal company Katowicki Holding WÄ™glowy S.A. The privatization tender for a fully 10 % share in the company was announced by the Polish government at the end of this year´s August.

The Temelin Power Plant acquired, together with another 9 Czech firms, the valuation Safe Enterprise. Hereby, it ranked with the Dukovany Power Plant (which defended the certificate today) in the society of 52 enterprises of the Czech Republic that hold this valuation of Industrial Safety level.

A newly established company of the CEZ Group CEZ Distribution Services, s.r.o. is going to start its activity on July 1 next year. More than 2,200 people, placed all around the area of the CEZ Group, will find work there. Besides the employees of Severomoravska energetika, a.s., also employees of distribution joint-stock companies Vychodoceska energetika, Zapadoceska energetika, Severoceska energetika and Stredoceska energetika are moving there.

Technological equipment of the Tusimice I power plant is being removed and a total demolition is under way in order to improve the state of the environment, the landscape physique, secure safety, and mainly by reason of preparing the locality for future industrial usage. The goal is to clean up and prepare the site, which has entire infrastructure, for future industrial usage.

Today representatives of the National Property Fund of the Czech Republic (FNM CR) and CEZ Power Company have signed Agreement about a purchase and sale of shares, under which CEZ is buying a 55,792 % share in Severoceske doly owned by FNM CR. By this step, CEZ will increase its present 37.31 % share in the company to 93.102 %. The purchase price amounts to 9,046m CZK.

In Bucharest today, the settlement of the privatization contract for acquiring the majority share in Electrica Oltenia S.A., which has thus become another foreign member of the CEZ Group, has been concluded.

CEZ Power Company has today submitted a bid for a purchase of the Montenegro thermal power plant Pljevlja and a 31.1% share in the mining company Rudnik uglja, A.D., which supplies the plant with fuel brown coal.