Das Kapital Didn't Stick

Deals in Balkans, Vietnam and Russia highlight firms' growing influence abroad

The nation’s energy companies are successfully elbowing out competitors to expand their interests across Central and Eastern Europe. ČEZ, the country’s dominant energy utility, made history last month with the largest-ever foreign investment by a domestic company, at 1.4 billion euros (39.6 billion Kč/$1.9 billion). It beat the record set in March by Zentiva, the largest generic drug manufacturer in the Czech Republic, of 460 million euros.

The deal is a joint venture with Elektroprivreda Republika Srpska (ERS) to modernize the Gacko I power plant and construct a new coal-fired power plant, Gacko II, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. ČEZ will own a 51 percent stake in the enterprise, called Nove Elektrarne RS (NERS), which is also the largest direct foreign investment in the Serb Republic.

“The planned investment into the construction of the plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina is another step toward the fulfillment of our vision of becoming the leader in the electricity market in Central and Eastern Europe,” Martin Roman, ČEZ’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.
It is the company’s fifth foreign agreement. ČEZ has already acquired three distribution companies and the Varna power plant in Bulgaria, a majority stake in the distribution company Electrica Oltenia of Romania and two Polish power companies, Elcho and Skawina.

Capitalism trumps the others at any time and any place; limp-wristed neocoM theories and practice notwithstanding.