Economy
Hungary's largest solar plant to be taken over by the state - portal
You may learn more about solar plant investments and the current issues of solar power regulations in Hungary at Portfolio’s upcoming conference on 7 June. A few seats might still be available!
While the Hungarian Electricity Works (MVM) is preparing for the takeover, the cabinet is preparing major rationalisation at the company. The portal has learned that plans about expanding to foreign markets are going to be shelved for now, and there will be layoffs and portfolio cleaning instead. However, the solar business will not be affected by the cost-cutting measures.
The Mátra Power Plant had been acquried by Germany’s RWE from the Hungarian state when Gyula Horn (Socialist Party MSZP) was Hungary’s Prime Minister. The Germans sold the country’s second-largest power producer after the Paks nuclear power plant last year. The buyer was a Czech-Hungarian consortium. As for the Hungarian side, Lőrinc Mészáros, a key ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, was in the deal via his company Status Power Invest. From the side of the Czech Republic, the buyer was Energeticky a Prumyslovy Holding (EPH).A few months after the acquisition, Mészáros has agreed with EPH that he would buy them out in two phases until 2019, as the partners had different ideas about the future of the power plant. MVM was left with a minority stake (which it had already had when RWE owned the company), but the main owner was unequivocally Mészáros.
By the time RWE sold the company, a 2x20-megawatt expansion in the solar park was already prepared.
