Nicaraguan Government
Buys Stake In Union
Fenosa
MANAGUA (Reuters) -
Spanish utility Union
Fenosa agreed to sell a
16 percent stake of its
Nicaraguan unit to the
government on Thursday,
wiping out more than $10
million in debt the
company had with
Managua, the capital
city.
The agreement, signed by
the country's energy
minister and the vice
president of Union
Fenosa, will allow for
government participation
in the company's board.
"We are going to work
together," energy
minister Emilio
Rappaccioli told a news
conference.
Nicaragua, which has a
precarious power system,
suffers from daily
blackouts across the
country. Union Fenosa
enjoys a virtual
monopoly in the power
distribution in
Nicaragua since 2000.
Leftist President Daniel
Ortega has blamed Fenosa
for the blackouts in the
impoverished Central
American nation.
Ortega's ally Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez
has nationalized various
industries but the
Nicaraguan leader, a
former guerrilla, has
not gone down that road.
Nicaragua said in
October it authorized
Union Fenosa to raise
electricity tariffs by
9.06 percent, to allow
the Spanish utility firm
to keep up with higher
fuel costs.
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