I don't mind your money

Kubanenergosbyt probably went to the structures of the governor of the Krasnodar Territory

RAO UES of Russia yesterday began a large-scale sale of energy sales assets. The main auctions will take place today and tomorrow, with seven companies up for bid. Yesterday, the most scandalous asset was sold - 49% of the shares of Kubanenergosbyt. The fact is that absolutely all market participants consider the starting price to be 850 million rubles. ($33 million) overestimated by at least two and a half times. Nevertheless, the Stroyservis company acquired the asset at the starting price. RAO claims that it is pleased with this result and believes that the price at which the winner will buy the shares reflects the high value of the asset. However, the press service of the energy holding does not say who is behind the winner. “The winner of the auction asked its organizer not to disclose information about the company,” reads the official press release from RAO. At the same time, all market participants interviewed by Vremya Novostey claim that they did not participate in the auction, including Oleg Deripaska’s structures, which are interested in many assets in the Krasnodar Territory. IFC Metropol, which is the organizer of the auction, refused to comment on the question of the participation of structures close to it. Vremya Novostei sources familiar with the auction claim that Stroyservis is backed by structures close to Kuban Governor Alexander Tkachev and the management of Kubanenergosbyt. However, those around the governor do not comment on this information.

“It was obvious that none of the energy workers would come to the auction,” says the head of one of the energy sales companies, who refused to participate in yesterday’s auction. - The results of the auction lie in the plane of politics. And what is the point for the state to reform the electric power industry in this way?”

Kubanenergosbyt is a tasty morsel for any electric power company. It provides electricity to consumers in the Krasnodar Territory and the Republic of Adygea as a supplier of last resort, in particular Novoroscement, Novorosmetall, Kubangazprom, Rosneft, and the North Caucasus Railway. And the development program for the Sochi resort (including by 2014, when the Olympics may be held there) provides for large-scale construction of new facilities, as a result of which Kubanenergosbyt will also seriously develop.

However, market participants nevertheless consider the price of $33 million for a non-controlling stake to be high. It is still difficult to judge how fair their assessments are - there were only two such transactions in Russia. Last summer, 47.36% of the authorized capital (almost 60% of voting shares) of the Yaroslavl Sales Company (YASK) was purchased by Transneftservice S for $15 million (a price 2.5 times higher than the initial one). And before that, for $105 million, Italian Enel bought 49% of Rusenergosbyt from Grigory Berezkin’s structure, which supplies energy to Gazprom, Russian Railways, Rosneft, metallurgical and oil companies. Aton’s analytical materials, published immediately after the sale of the Yaroslavl sales company, stated: “The supply segment remains one of the most undervalued in the electricity industry, since few investors understand what the business models of energy supply companies are now and what they will be in the future . Unfortunately, the liquidity of shares of companies in this segment is now extremely low, and the average capitalization of each supply company rarely exceeds $20 million.” So it is very difficult to talk about what price is truly market price for Kubanenergosbyt.

Nevertheless, a consortium of Russian appraisers (comprising the companies “Russian Appraisal”, “National Agency for Valuation and Consulting” and “Expert Consulting Group”) recommended setting the starting price at 850 million rubles. “Well, who do you have to be to participate in such an auction? - the head of one of the energy sales companies was indignant a month ago in a private conversation with a Vremya Novostei correspondent. - Not only did they set such a wild price, but they also demand a huge deposit - 50 million, and at the same time they write that I, as a bidder, still have to prove to them my right to participate in the auction! Well, it’s obvious that the auction is being done for our own people.” Yesterday he commented on the results: “I would like to hope that the bidding would be truly open and fair. But alas. Now I would like to hope that this is an exception.”

Representatives of other energy sales companies yesterday refrained from officially assessing the situation. Unofficially, some suggested that RAO considered the Kuban asset to be strategic and did not intend to give it away, firstly, cheaply, and secondly, to someone unknown. There were also versions that it would a priori be difficult for the winner to work with the governor of the region, and therefore it would be the local authorities who would buy the asset.

Nikolay GORELOV