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“EPH: Our business is clean. As coal.”

UntitledUntrustworthy company does not deserve Lusatian mines

Press release – 21. June 2016

Prague – Today people from the initiative “Limity jsme my!” (We are the boundaries of the mining!”) symbolically cleaned up the dirt at the Prague office of Energy and Industry Holding (EPH), that the company has gathered in recent years.

Some 15 activists dressed like cleaning ladies (and cleaning gentlemen) entered the hall of the EPH building and started trying to clean their invisible corporate dirt. The slogan of the action was: “Our business is clean. As coal. EPH”. (“Vi är rena som kol. EPH”).

EPH owned by Czech tycoon Daniel Křetínský agreed to buy opencast lignite mines and a coal power plant in Lausitz from Swedish state owned company Vattenfall, nevertheless the transfer must be confirmed by the government in Sweden. People from the initiative “Limity jsme my!” believe, that the Swedish government will not sell the mines to the company, whose owners are housed in a tax haven which was fined by the European commission in 2012 because of the obstruction during antitrust investigation. Moreover, EPH has already bought coal mines and power plants in Germany. Due to peculiar process of this trade where they are the owner of subsidiary company Mibrag, is now being investigated by the police..

Participants of the action entered the EPH office shortly after lunch. With the help of detergent they tried to clean up the company’s dirty business, that EPH undertook in the past. They believe, that the Swedish government should not sell the mines and power plant to this company, that does not meet the high business standards respected in Sweden.

Josef Patočka from the initiative Limity jsme my said:
„Our opinion is that EPH, owned by Křetínský, has a doubtful and irresponsible history. They like to make money at the expense of society and nature. We appeal to the Swedish government not to sell the Vattenfall mines and power plants to this untrustworthy company. Lusatian coal should stay in the ground – as homes of local people, endangered by expansion of the mines, should stay on the surface.”