The police office reports that a bomb has exploded in front of the building of ESM power utility in Skopje causing small property damages. No injuries are reported. Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski comments that this is an attempt to undermine the ongoing privatization procedure for the company. German RWE, Austrian EVN, Italian Enel and Czech CEZ have finalized due diligence of ESM and must submit bids for a 90% stake by March 1.

The privatization should be completed by end-March. ESM's core activity is power distribution but the company also owns 11 small hydropower plants. Finance minister Nikola Popovski has recently announced expectations that the sale price will be at least €80 million to €100 million, which we consider a quite conservative estimate as peer deals in Bulgaria and Romania have shown that the 90% stake could be valued at some €300 million.

Meanwhile, the civic association Voice for Light has announced that it will block today roads to Skopje in order to exert pressure on the cabinet for giving up the decision for privatizing ESM. The association has been organizing road blockades in Skopje and throughout the country since last month, trying to stop the privatization procedure. To date, the reaction of the authorities has been to amend the law on public gatherings.