Slovak MPs give govt veto power on gas price hikes

BRATISLAVA, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Slovak lawmakers approved a law on Thursday increasing government power over utilities mostly owned by foreign shareholders in an attempt to prevent hikes in household energy prices.

The new legislation, passed only two days after the cabinet approved the bill and submitted it to parliament, was a government response to efforts by the dominant gas company SPP to increase retail prices for next year.

Under the new law the state will get veto rights over the price of natural gas that SPP charges to households.

"I want to thank deputies for approving a very important law," Prime Minister Robert Fico told parliament.

SPP is run by E.ON EONG.DE and Gaz de France (GSZ.PA) through a combined 49 percent stake and management rights. The government holds the remaining 51 percent but is in a minority on SPP's board.

Fico said earlier this week SPP had requested that the network market regulator approve a price increase of either 13 or 24 percent for next year, which the government opposes.

The new legislation requires all companies that are supervised by the market regulator to have price proposals approved by a resolution at their shareholders' meetings.

In SPP, such resolutions must be approved by a 52 percent majority, which neither the state nor the foreign shareholders have, and this gives the government veto power over household prices, the government said.

Fico, who came to power in 2006 on promises to help the poor, has long clashed with SPP over prices as efforts to prevent jumps in energy bills are a key part of his agenda.

SPP, which also manages a key pipeline shipping Russian natural gas to Europe, said its prices reflected developments with cost of commodities on world markets.

The market regulator has already rejected two SPP price hike requests this year as ungrounded, which SPP said would hurt its profits.

(Reporting by Peter Laca; editing by Christopher Johnson)