Estonia Plans to Buy Stake in Its Gas Grid
Photo: Gazprom
Estonia's government decided on Tuesday to start talks on buying shares in its national gas grid, majority owned by Germany's E.ON and Russia's Gazprom, local media reported.
The gas grid company AS EG Vorguteenus is 100 percent owned by a holding company AS Vorguteenus Valdus, which is 37 percent owned by Gazprom and 33.7 percent by E.ON. Finland's Fortum and Itera Latvia have 17.7 and 10 percent respectively.
AS EG Vorguteenus was worth around 60 million euros ($82.90 million) at its book value, but the final price will be set during negotiations with shareholders, the Baltic news service BNS reported, citing government officials.
Urve Palo, the minister of economic affairs and communications, said the government has had preliminary talks with some shareholders, but it was waiting for concrete proposals.
Government officials of neighboring Lithuania and Latvia said they have been considering buying E.ON shares in their respective gas utilities and gas grids.
Estonian law requires separate ownership of gas supply and transmission by 2015, which means that Russia's Gazprom, the only gas supplier to the Baltic state has to divest its shares.
E.ON declined to comment.
($1 = 0.7237 Euros)
(Reporting by David Mardiste, editing by William Hardy)
