| Together with him in Power Machines will be Potanin, Siemens, General Electric and the state The federal authorities, who did not allow Vladimir Potanin (Interros) to sell the Power Machines company to the German concern Siemens, yesterday named the buyer they liked. As expected, it was the structure of Oleg Deripaska’s “Basic Element”. The Federal Antimonopoly Service announced that it has approved the acquisition of 80% of the shares of the company - a manufacturer of electrical power equipment. This is even more than Mr. Potanin has at his disposal (about 74% of the shares). Basic Element now says that it will intensify negotiations with Interros regarding the size of the stake being sold and the price. A source close to these negotiations claims that the fact that the FAS approved Mr. Deripaska’s proposal in fact means the Kremlin’s support for the idea of academician Yevgeny Velikhov to create a united machine-building corporation based on Power Machines. At the first stage, control (51% of shares) over Power Machines should be shared on a parity basis by the structures of Vladimir Potanin and Oleg Deripaska. At the same time, there is a firm intention to give a non-blocking stake in the company to the Siemens and General Electric concerns (in total about 23% of shares). And only then begin to create a united power engineering corporation with the participation of the state.
FAS gave Basic Element its consent to purchase Power Machines subject to a number of conditions. “For the main types of power equipment used in the construction and operation of hydraulic, thermal and nuclear power plants, Power Machines is the only manufacturer in Russia,” Andrey Tsyganov, deputy head of the antimonopoly service, explained yesterday. Therefore, according to him, the requirements for Basel will be similar to those that were previously planned to be presented to Siemens: “We are talking about standard conditions, in particular, compliance with the defense order, ensuring supplies, disclosing information to the antimonopoly authority.”
The state spent a whole year thinking about whether to allow Interros to sell a controlling stake in Power Machines. In early February, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov explained the reason for the delay: the deal with Siemens, according to him, poses a threat to the country’s energy security, since in this case “Russian fuel and energy companies will become dependent on the Siemens AG concern for the supply and maintenance of equipment.” . In addition, the prime minister said, rising prices for more high-tech products, which, if sold to a German concern, will be produced by Power Machines, will cause an increase in energy tariffs. In addition, the government fears for the country's scientific and technical potential, which may be lost when control over the leader of Russian power engineering is transferred to a German concern. And finally, Mr. Fradkov explained, the deal “contradicts the legislation on the protection of state secrets and may lead to the loss of control by the Russian Ministry of Defense and Roscosmos over the implementation of government contracts.”
As a result, in April, the FAS refused the German concern. However, since November last year, as the head of the service, Igor Artemyev, said, a letter from Oleg Deripaska, who also laid claim to the engineering asset, was considered. Moreover, if Siemens managed to come to an agreement with Interros on the structure of the deal and on the price, then representatives of Basic Element always claimed that they would begin such negotiations only when the FAS approved the deal. From which many experts concluded that Mr. Deripaska’s role is not so much to buy Power Machines, but to prevent them from going to Siemens. This version was indirectly confirmed by Vremya Novostei yesterday by Power Machines’ main competitor, the head of Technopromexport, Sergei Molozhavy: “From the point of view of the development of the power engineering industry, Basel, as a potential large owner of energy capacities, has a conflict of interests.” The fact is that Mr. Deripaska’s structures own a stake in Irkutskenergo, which includes large hydroelectric power plants, control the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station, and are also going to build the Boguchanskaya hydroelectric power station. And they need a company that supplies energy equipment primarily to minimize costs, and not to make a profit from its operation. However, for the same purpose, Mr. Deripaska, according to experts, also acquired shares in power plants. Although, in fairness, it should be noted that Irkutskenergo has become a serious business for Basic Element, along with aluminum production.
However, Mr. Molozhavyi believes that “the very activation of interest in power engineering looks optimistic”: “Such activity allows us to hope that the period of oblivion is over and we can count on the arrival of investments in an industry that is strategic for the country. And at the expense of what, unification, consolidation, division - this is the second question.”
The press service of Basel said yesterday that if the deal is successfully completed, the company intends to “in partnership with other investors or independently comprehensively develop this asset”, “to implement a program of large-scale investment in the power engineering industry of Russia (Siemens was ready to invest in Power Machines "$200-300 million - Ed. ) and actively contribute to the creation of a national power engineering corporation."
Deputy General Director of Interros Sergei Batekhin also spoke about the feasibility of its creation two weeks ago. He stated that “the main goal of Interros is to create a national power engineering corporation with state participation on the basis of Power Machines.” According to him, Mr. Potanin’s company “would be glad to see Basel as a partner,” but “control over Power Machines should remain with Interros and the state.” Interros, according to him, would like to retain a controlling or at least a blocking stake in Power Machines.
When creating a united corporation, the state, Mr. Batekhin said, can either buy a blocking stake in Power Machines or contribute any asset to their authorized capital. A Vremya Novostei source close to the negotiations claims that the state most likely will not receive a blocking package. However, he says, the state will in any case have the right to regulate the activities of this corporation: “The introduction of something like a “golden share” is being discussed.”
Foreign investors, according to the source, are already ready to enter the capital of Power Machines. Siemens, however, is still offended, but any day now it will begin negotiations and, the source is sure, will still agree to purchase a certain stake, providing its production licenses in return. And the General Electric concern has already agreed to purchase shares in Power Machines. Therefore, in September it is planned to sign an agreement between all parties and begin the creation of a united machine-building corporation.
And Vladimir Potanin yesterday had the opportunity to personally talk with President Vladimir Putin. The owner of Interros began the conversation “with the main thing - energy,” namely hydrogen energy. Mr. Potanin said that he intends to invest more than $100 million in the corresponding project. The work is being carried out jointly with the Academy of Sciences and the Kurchatov Institute, headed by Evgeniy Velikhov. Complaining that the markets of developed countries are closed to Russian technologies, he asked Mr. Putin for help: “We would like to count on your support and the support of the government.” “So it will be,” the president promised, adding that in return he was counting on help from business in the development of education. Nikolai GORELOV, Yana GODOVANAYA |
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