UPDATE: Russian govt approves sale of Inter RAO’s 40% in Irkutskenergo

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MOSCOW, May 13 (PRIME) -- The Russian government has approved the sale of a 40% stake held by power holding Inter RAO in power utility Irkutskenergo at a price no lower than the market, according to a ruling signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and released on Friday.

Medvedev’s ruling also denied a 2013 government ruling that named only state holding Rosneftegaz as a possible buyer of the stake.

The market price of the stake stands at about 23.8 billion rubles at present.

Power company EuroSibEnergo, part of Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska’s En+ Group, owns a 50.19% stake in Irkutskenergo. On Thursday, Deputy Energy Minister Vyacheslav Kravchenko said EuroSibEnergo may make a final decision to buy Inter RAO’s stake in the power utility within two to three weeks.

In April, the Federal Antimonopoly Service cleared EuroSibEnergo and its Telmamskaya GES hydropower plant to buy 40.287% in Irkutskenergo.

Previously, Inter RAO said it plans to sell the 40% stake at a price no lower than 48.6 billion rubles it spent on buying the shares of Irkutskenergo.

(64.9607 rubles – U.S. $1)

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