Czech CEZ Less Likely to Bid for Enel's Slovak Utility

Czech energy group CEZ is less likely to buy a 66 percent stake in the main Slovak electricity producer from Italy's Enel due to opposition from the Slovak government controlling the minority, CEZ's chief executive was quoted as saying.

"It is more likely that we will not bid than that we will submit one in the end. We cannot buy a stake without an agreement with the minority owner, that is with the Slovak state," Daniel Benes said in an interview published by Mlada Fronta Dnes daily paper on Saturday.

A CEZ board member said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday that the dispute between Slovakia's government and Enel was making it less likely CEZ would bid by a May deadline.

Enel is due to receive bids for Slovenske Elektrarne by May 9 and sources close to the matter have said it could attract four suitors, including CEZ, which has already expressed its interest.

But Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said last week that the state, which owns 34 percent of Slovenske Elektrarne, would "actively obstruct" the planned sale.

A Hungarian-led consortium is still interested in bidding for Enel's majority stake, the head of one of the companies in the group said on Thursday.

(Reporting by Robert Muller; Editing by Toby Chopra)