Főgáz submits offer to take over Tigáz clients
State-owned Főgáz has submitted an offer to take over the retail clients of regional gas distributor Tigáz, the Hungarian Energy and Utilities Regulatory Office (MEKH) told Hungarian news agency MTI yesterday.
Főgáz submitted the offer by the deadline, and MEKH now has five working days to evaluate it.
Főgáz said earlier it was prepared to take over Tigázʼs 1.2 million clients, after the company requested the withdrawal of its "universal service provider" license to supply gas to households. Tigáz said it took the step to "coordinate its business activity with the regulatory environment and reduce the unfavorable effects on its business activity".
Tigáz had an operating loss of HUF 4.9 bln last year.
Főgáz also recently won the right to take over the retail customers of the local gas units of Germanyʼs E.ON and Franceʼs GDF Suez, after they turned in their licenses.
Főgáz is the bridgehead onto the gas market of the First National Utilities Company (ENKSZ), recently established by the state to act as an efficient, predictable and cheap utilities provider.
ENKSZ chief executive Péter Horváth said in a statement yesterday that if MEKH transfers the Tigáz clients to Főgáz, Főgáz will become the sole universal service provider of gas in Hungary, raising the number of households its serves to 3.3 million.
Universal service providers supply gas using a price structure and level controlled by the state.
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