Czech PM says all options open on CEZ sale-paper

PRAGUE, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The Czech government has yet to decide on the form of a planned offering of about 7 percent stake in power utility CEZ <CEZPsp.PR>, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek was quoted as saying in a newspaper.

Topolanek told Monday's daily Lidove Noviny that a small part of the state's 68 percent stake in CEZ could be either offered through a share flotation on the stock exchange or placed through a direct share sale.

Finance Minister Vlastimil Tlusty has previously advocated a share flotation on the Prague Stock Exchange as the most transparent and effective way of raising funds to aid the country's deficit-ridden budgets.

But Topolanek said all options remained open on how to sell a CEZ stake to meet his government's goal of selling enough shares to raise 31 billion crowns ($1.39 billion) to help fill a gap in the 2007 budget.

"The government's resolution does not speak about a bourse sale. This is only one option," Topolanek was quoted as saying.

The daily said Topolanek left open the possibility of selling the stake back to CEZ, which is east Europe's largest firm by market capitalisation and has begun considering a plan to buy back as much as 10 percent of its stock from the market.

The state's sale of a part of CEZ is not assured, however.

The minority government of rightist Civic Democratic Prime Minister Topolanek faces a confidence vote in a parliamentary session starting on Tuesday, which it is expected to lose.

Tough political talks are expected to follow the confidence vote, given no agreement on a government so far since a June election which gave both left and right-wing factions exactly the same power in parliament.

Leftists have said they are against the CEZ share sale. ((Reporting by Marek Petrus; editing by Paul Bolding; Reuters Messaging: rm://marek.petrus.reuters.com@reuters.net; e-mail: prague.newsroom@reuters.com or marek.petrus@reuters.com; Tel: +420 224 190 477))

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($1=22.36 Czech Crown)

Keywords: UTILITIES CZECH CEZ