Competitions to replace guaranteeing suppliers begin

The Ministry of Energy is beginning the process of replacing the main energy sales regions that have been removed from the market. The first competition could take place in a week in Penza. But its terms are unlikely to attract applicants. Officials demand that 100% of the previous sales debts be repaid, while the new supplier must work for an equal or lower sales premium. In such a situation, creditors and suppliers themselves talk about the possibility of disruption of the competition, which may be of interest to network companies that are now temporarily replacing suspended sales and want to preserve this business.

Kommersant has at its disposal the draft rules for holding the first competition for the right to replace a retired supplier of last resort (GP, the key energy supply company in the region). According to the document, it is planned to begin accepting applications for the former area of responsibility of Penzaenergosbyt on May 20. It was one of the first to lose its status - as part of six state enterprises belonging to the Energostream group, which collected about 10.5 billion rubles from consumers, but did not give generators. (see "Kommersant" dated January 24).

From February 1, Penzaenergosbyt is temporarily replaced by the network company - IDGC of Volga. It is assumed that the networks will operate as sales outlets for no longer than a year. The Electricity Law prohibits combining electricity transmission with generation or sales. However, Rosseti (the former MRSK Holding, whose subsidiaries received temporary GP status) insist on extending the period or even allowing them to participate in competitions for GP status. In April, Rosseti received support from a number of governors who asked to transfer the functions of the state enterprise to the networks forever (see Kommersant on April 25). Despite the obvious lack of support for this position from both the Ministry of Energy and the Market Council NP (regulates electricity markets), there has not yet been a clear end to this story.

The competition to replace SOEs was first described in the rules of the retail market, issued a year ago (government resolution N442). In accordance with them, the participant must undertake the obligation to redeem the right to claim the debt from the creditors of the previous SOE for a share of its total debt. The one who offers to repay the highest interest will win. Until now, no one has mentioned paying off 100% of the debt. “Everyone understands that you will not receive part of the receivables and the debts will be paid at a discount,” said the head of the Market Council, Vyacheslav Kravchenko, in an interview with Kommersant.

But in the first document for a real competition, the conditions are different. It says that the minimum amount that a participant must offer to Penzaenergosbyt's creditors is 1.88 billion rubles. This is 100% of the company's debt to the generation and infrastructure of the wholesale market. At the same time, the applicant will not be able to receive at least some gain in income: the sales premium under the terms of the competition will either be equal to that established for Penzaenergosbyt, or lower. “And so the zero chance that the competition will take place goes into the negative,” says the market expert who analyzed the document.

Kommersant's attempt to find candidates on such terms did not bring results. IES-Holding (which owns TGK-6, which operates in Penza) declined to comment. Sales companies operating in the region, Rusenergosbyt, Rusenergoresurs and the Regional Energy Sales Company, also did not show enthusiasm. Meanwhile, there is very little time left to attract applicants, the acceptance of applications will last only four days - until May 24, the results should be summed up on June 13, and the terms of the competition have not yet been officially published. The Ministry of Energy, as well as the Market Council, did not confirm or deny the existence of the project and did not explain why such a short deadline was set and what the hopes for repaying 100% of the debt were based on.

“Short deadlines for submitting competitive applications can become an obstacle to everyone who wants to take part in the competition,” says Natalya Nevmerzhitskaya, head of the NP of guaranteeing suppliers and energy sales companies. According to her, the requirement to fully repay the debt to the generation as an indispensable condition for participation in the competition may lead to the fact that it will not take place. “We hope that this is not the goal and that the requirements for tender participants will not be set at a deliberately impossible level,” says Ms. Nevmerzhitskaya. “Otherwise, the opportunity to attract new investors to the energy market and choose a reliable supplier for the region will be missed.” Director of the NP "Council of Energy Producers" (which includes generators - creditors of state-owned enterprises deprived of their status) Igor Mironov emphasizes that "auctions must take place on acceptable terms so that sales companies are not left with the networks."

Natalya Skorlygina; Asya Safiullina, Saratov

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