OTE, a.s., the Czech electricity and gas market operator, announces in accordance with Section 118(5) of the Public Notice No. 349/2015 Coll., on the Gas Market Rules, that it is suspending the activity of a company Manta Commodities SE, ID 04567536, EIC 27X-MANTA-COMM-J, in CS OTE system due to the loss of its possibility to supply gas, based on a notification of this company received by the market operator on 21 March 2022 at 15:10.

In line with the Market Rules, a fast change of supplier will be possible from 22.3.2022 08:00 to 24.3.2022 08:00. Delivery of gas from the Supplier of Last Resort (or any other supplier following the fast change of supplier) will start from 25.3.2022 06:00. Delivery from the Supplier of Last Resort doesn’t apply to customers whose gas consumption during the last 12 months exceeded 630 MWh.

In this context, the Market Operator urges the suppliers who have passed the responsibility for the imbalance to Manta Commodities SE to make a change of balance responsible party at the affected points of delivery by 14:00 on 22 March 2022. If this does not happen by that time, a fast change of supplier to another supplier will be allowed at the respective points of delivery, or the respective points of delivery will be transferred to the supplier of last resort.

The Supplier of Last Resort (SLR) serves as a way to protect customers in case of any supplier’s failure to operate. An SLR steps in immediately after such an incident and customers can use the SLR as an interim supplier for a maximum of 6 months. During this time the customer should select a new proper supplier and switch to it without any restrictions. Even if a customer had a fixed-term contract with the original supplier, this will not be valid with the SLR.

The Market Operator is following the national legislation in force, with the aim to minimize the negative impact of such events on the gas market.

Update 22. 3. 2022, 14:30

In accordance with Section 116(4) of the Gas Market Rules, the market operator informs market participants that no balance responsible party has been assigned to 1690 points of delivery by 14:00 on 22 March 2022. It is possible to receive a fast change of supplier at these points of delivery until 24 March 2022, 08:00.