OREANDA-NEWS. On March 31, 2008 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has obtained an eight percent stake in TGK-9, a regional generating company powering some of Russia’s key industrial areas, completing a privatization investment set in motion last December under the third and final phase of the country’s power reform, reported the press-centre of EBRD.

The EBRD purchased 617,4 billion shares for approximately 4,9 billion roubles (equivalent to ?140 million) from Integrated Energy Systems (IES), one of the largest strategic investors in the Russian power sector and part of the Renova group. The transaction aimed at supporting the switch to private sector control as the state exits from thermal generation assets.

The purchase gives the Bank representation on the Board of TGK-9. The EBRD has been involved in the unbundling of the Russian power sector since the start of its restructuring in 2001.

Increasing electricity generating capacity is vital as Russia’s economic growth surges, particularly in the heavily industrialised Sverdlovsk and Perm regions and the Komi republic where TGK-9 operates. All three areas currently face a high risk of capacity shortages.

IES has, as scheduled, secured a controlling stake in the regional generator through a substantial capital increase and acquisition of shares previously owned by the Russian state through RAO UES.