Prague will lend Pražská plynárenská two billion to buy gas for the next winter
The reason is gas prices, which have been rising sharply since last year’s support. According to PPAS representatives, they have increased tenfold. Other costs are also significantly higher, such as guarantees from the market operator OTE, which the company will not cover from the approved loan. Securing gas supplies for the next winter period will thus be significantly more expensive.
Pražská plynárenská is one of the largest domestic suppliers of energy, supplying approximately 425,000 consumption points with gas and electricity. Its sole shareholder is Pražská plynárenská Holding, controlled by Prague.
The decision was accompanied by a multi-hour discussion of the deputies. Opposition ODS and ANO criticized the functioning of the company and the loan. According to them, responsible politicians and managers should draw personal consequences. Representatives of the company and the city management rejected the criticism. The deputies finally agreed with the opposition’s proposal that an audit be carried out in the PPAS.
“The reason is to buy gas in storage tanks so that clients have enough gas to be able to take it. (The loan) is provided under market conditions for a period of one year, “said the mayor’s deputy Pavel Vyhnánek (Prague Sobě). “We are preparing for the fact that in the autumn we will have to have 80 percent of the stocks in storage, and we need this money for that,” added Martin Pacovský, the head of the gasworks.
Today, the deputies also approved a patronage statement, which is a form of expression of support from the owner in relation to the banks from which the company wants to obtain loans. The patronage declaration does not impose any obligations on Prague, nor is it a guarantee or other securing instrument. It relates to contracts that the company has already concluded in the past with regard to loans with banks.
The opposition YES in particular did not like the form of the loan. “We do not have confidence in the management that is there (in PPAS) today, and it has not been explained why it is necessary to send money,” said ANO chairman Ondřej Prokop. He was joined by MP and Deputy Patrik Nacher (YES), according to whom the city did not answer his questions and refused to infer responsibility. According to the representative of Ivana Pilný (YES), it is not clear from the discussed document how and for what the money will be replenished.
Representatives of the ODS and ANO also criticized the functioning of the PPAS Supervisory Board. “It failed, I deal with marginality instead of important things like the company’s management. It only started when the situation became serious, “said opposition councilor Radomír Nepil (YES). In the discussion, they also criticized the fact that the company made people more expensive by jumping and that it did not buy enough gas for the supply last year. According to the opposition representative and the mayor of Prague 9, Tomáš Portlík (ODS), the PPAS management was to monitor the development of the gas price and react on an ongoing basis.
“If it weren’t for the war, I certainly wouldn’t be standing here. I think that the situation that occurred surprised most of us and we got into a situation that no one expected, “said Pacovský. He also rejected claims that the company also offered a loan for its operation. Councilor Jan Chabr (TOP 09) also defended the progress of the gasworks. “Experts have predicted that prices will fall this spring and the situation will calm down. But there was a war with Russia, which no one knew. “To say that it is a managerial mistake, unfair,” said Chabr
Due to the extreme rise in energy prices on wholesale markets, about twenty suppliers have closed in the Czech Republic since last autumn. The largest of them, the Bohemia Energy group, closed in mid-October. It had about 900,000 customers. The situation continues The war in Ukraine At the EU level, it has been used for several weeks to cut off supplies of Russian oil and gas, on which, however, many European countries, including the Czech Republic, are largely dependent.