Electricity. Expensive

Anatoly Chubais will no longer be accused of selling out Russia for pennies

The reform of the electric power industry entered its final stage this year. The main thing has begun - the sale of energy generating assets. Anatoly Chubais apparently decided to hedge his bets in case of accusations of squandering, and the starting price at all auctions without exception turned out to be too high. This circumstance sharply limited the opportunities of Russian strategic investors and allowed foreign strategists to enter the electricity market.

Large generating companies were so expensive for investors that they were unable to buy more than one company. In particular, Norilsk Nickel was the first to consolidate a controlling stake in OGK - it acquired OGK-3, paying 81.72 billion rubles for 37.9% of the company’s shares, and for another 23.8 billion it managed to increase its stake to almost 72%. . At the same time, it is significant that the company managed to outbid the supply of structures close to Gazprom. And although Norilsk Nickel had previously announced its intention to acquire shares in at least one or two TGCs, it did not buy anything else.

Gazprom made several purchases. First of all, he acquired control over the Moscow and St. Petersburg generating companies - Mosenergo and TGK-1. The first (28.9% of shares in addition to the already existing 33%) went to the concern for more than 60 billion rubles, the second (over 55%) for 71 billion rubles. True, if Gazprom recorded the first for itself, then the second - for the subsidiary company Russian Energy Projects, which it was supposed to acquire after it won the competition for placing an additional issue of shares in TGK-1.

In addition, the structure of Gazenergoprom Invest, which is believed to be close to Gazprom (it is a 100 percent subsidiary of Gazenergoprombank, founded by Mezhregiongaz and its divisions), acquired shares in OGK-2 and OGK-6, having already spent RUB 37 billion (so far 19.1 and 17.1% of shares have been purchased, respectively).

Another major Russian player in the energy market - IES Holding - began to control TGK-5, TGK-9, in addition, he lays claim to TGK-6 and TGK-7 (he has already consolidated a blocking stake in this company, which, as is considered to be in one way or another controlled by RAO board member Vladimir Avetisyan and his Samara associates). Gazprom is also vying for TGK-7.

Large energy companies currently have three foreign shareholders, with only the German energy giant E.ON having a controlling stake. He managed to acquire OGK-4 for more than 140 billion rubles. At first, the Germans, in principle, did not want to participate in the sale of energy assets, considering the conditions for participation unacceptable. In particular, they were not satisfied with the fact that OGK-4 (like any other company) was supposed to be seriously fined for failure to fulfill the investment program developed by the previous management on time. Sometimes it turned out that it was necessary to build a power unit whose energy no one needed; and if the company builds it, it will lose investment, and if it doesn’t build it, it will pay a huge fine. But when the head of E.ON, Wulf Bernotat, personally intervened in the situation, the conditions were changed and the purchase took place. However, he soon announced that he was not going to buy anything else from the Russian electric power industry.

Another participant in the Russian market was the Italian concern Enel (which for a long time managed the North-West CHPP in tandem with the ESN group of Grigory Berezkin). He managed to become the winner of the auction for the sale of a blocking stake in OGK-5 for 39.2 billion rubles. in June. Then the concern gradually increased its stake, but did not yet reach control. Finnish Fortum did not participate in the sales, but simply did not allow its blocking stake in TGK-1 to be “diluted”.

The result is this: over the year, the total volume of funds raised from the sale of OGK and TGK shares amounted to almost 600 billion rubles, or about 24 billion dollars.

Irina TSYRULEVA, Natalya ROMANOVA, Nikolay KOCHELYAGIN, Alexey GRIVACH, Nikolay GORELOV, Andrey DENISOV