Electricity

The State Property Commission has once again postponed the privatisation auctions for Prykarpattyaoblenergo [PREN UZ, BUY] and Sumyoblenergo from May 29 to June 5 due to the lack of applications. The SPF continues postponing the privatisation auction by one week each time there are no applications for the current offer.

The National Energy Regulatory Commission (NERC) decreased the power transmission and supply tariffs for electricity distributing companies that work under Ukraine’s regulated tariff.

National Energy Regulatory Commission (NERC) expects the first electricity export auction in July, NERC head Valery Kalchenko told journalists yesterday. The auction will be for access to the export capacities of Burshtyn Energy Island, which is integrated into UCTE. The auction will be held by the state owned transmission grid operator “Ukrenergo” once a month for a period of up to one year.

The president of Ukraine cancelled a decree banning the privatisation of 9 companies that the government approved in December 2008.

The State Property Fund of Ukraine postponed the privatisation auctions of 25% stakes in Prykarpattyaoblenergo [PREN UZ, BUY] and Sumyoblenergo from May 22 to May 29. Nobody applied for the auction this time, the SPF announced. The initial asking price for the 25% stake in PREN is UAH 231 mln (USD 30.3 mln) and for the 25% stake in Sumyoblenergo is UAH 209 mln (USD 27.4 mln).

Negative statistics on power output were released yesterday by the Ministry of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine.

The privatization auction of a 25% stake in Poltavaoblenergo [POON UZ, BUY] was postponed by the State Property Fund from May 20 till May 27, 2009. No applications were handed in for the prior date, the SPF announced. The SPF had set the initial asking price for the 25% stake in POON at UAH 308 mln (USD 40 mln), or UAH 5.6 (USD 0.7) per share, as it had during previous attempts.

The privatisation of a 25% stake in Chernigivoblenergo [CHEON UZ, BUY] was successful yesterday, as expected. Surprisingly, the bidders competed severely and as a result, the purchase price of the CHEON stake was 88% above the initial asking price.

On Thursday the State Property Fund (SPF) will attempt to sell a 25% stake in Chernigivoblenergo [CHEON UZ, BUY] with an initial asking price of UAH 119 mln (USD 15.5 mln). This implies a UAH 4.0 per share asking price for CHEON which is in the current market range.

The State Property Fund of Ukraine sold its 27% stake in Lvivoblenergo [LVON UZ, BUY] to a local equity trader, TEKT Trade, for UAH 197 mln (USD 26 mln). Two companies were bidders and the deal price did not rise much compared to the SPF’s initial price of UAH 171 mln for the 27% stake in LVON..