Ministerial team preparing for consolidation of public utility firms

Budapest, August 28 (MTI) – The government has tasked a working group to prepare for the consolidation of state-owned electricity, gas and district-heating companies into a single non-profit holding company, a resolution published in the official gazette Magyar Kozlony late on Wednesday showed.

The head of the Prime Minister’s Office, the justice minister, the development minister, the interior minister and the president of the Hungarian Energy and Utilities Regulation Office (MEKH) will participate in the working group.

Under the resolution, ownership rights over the utilities group as well as general regulatory powers over public services will be exercised by the head of the Prime Minister’s Office.

The resolution sets a deadline of September 15 for the working group to submit a proposal regarding the legal amendments necessary for the consolidation.

The government set up the working group to prepare for non-profit public services through an earlier resolution published on August 15. According to that resolution, the government seeks to ensure cheap and sustainable public utility services.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters