Ministry wants electricity theft to be criminal offense

The Industry and Trade Ministry will push for a change of legislation that would make electricity theft a criminal offense, a ministry spokesman said on Friday. The announcement follows controversy over the way in which energy giant CEZ dealt with clients it suspected of theft and the fact that its anti-theft unit got paramilitary-style training to deal with offenders. After twenty-six members of this special unit were charged with extortion CEZ promised to discontinue the practice and use exclusively legal means to protect itself from theft in the future.