Russia to give up 25% of electricity grid, UES CEO reveals

Sep 12, 2007 - Datamonitor

Russia is ready to give up 25% of its electricity generation industry to foreign investors, Anatoly Chubais, CEO of state-owned electricity titan Unified Energy Systems, told the Financial Times in an interview.

The financial daily quoted Mr Chubais as saying: "In the competitive part of the market there is no limit on foreign control. I believe that a minimum of two and a maximum of five strategic foreign companies will own Russian [power] generation businesses, that is up to 25%."

The report mentioned that the Russian government would retain the Russian power grid, the electricity distribution network and its nuclear and hydroelectric generation capacity.

Stating that approximately $8 billion had already been raised through listings of some companies and sale of stakes, Mr Chubais said that he wanted to raise much more than $15 billion to build new power stations and upgrade Russia's aging electricity networks.

Mr Chubais added that he was keen to attract foreign companies, because of both their money and their modern technology.