Kommersant learned about the freezing of the transaction for the sale of Enel assets in Russia

The already announced deal to sell the Russian assets of the Italian energy company Enel (it owns a controlling stake – 56.43% in Enel Russia) to the company “Lukoiland the Gazprombank-Freesia fund was frozen for an indefinite period, informs Kommersant, citing sources.

It is clarified that the reason was the decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin No. 520, according to which, until December 31 of this year, it is prohibited to make transactions for the purchase and sale of shares in companies included in the list of strategic enterprises and joint-stock companies, as well as in companies that produce and supply heat and electricity. In other words, Western investors will not be able to exit the Russian energy business until the end of this year without special permission from the President of Russia.

In mid-June, Enel announced the sale of its 56.43% stake in Enel Russia to Lukoil to the Gazprombank-Freesia fund. The company entered into an agreement with two buyers for a total amount of about 137 million euros, but the size of the shares for each of the participants was not reported. It was assumed that the transaction would be closed in the III quarter – after the approval of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) and the Russian government commission for monitoring foreign investment. After that, Enel was to announce the sale of all Russian generating assets, which include approximately 5.6 GW of conventional generation capacity and approximately 300 MW of wind capacity at various stages of development.

According to some sources of the publication, at the second stage after the closing of the transaction, the consolidation of the Gazprombank-Freesia fund package by Lukoil was supposed to take place. However, the companies themselves did not comment on their future plans.

Also in July, a deal was suspended for the sale of Russian assets to Finnish Fortum, the Fortum generating company (98.25%). By that time, the acceptance of applications from potential buyers was completed, including – AFK Sistema“Gazprombank» and Invest AG businessmen Alexander Abramov and Alexander Frolov. One of the conditions for the buyers was the closing of Fortum’s debt to the Finnish Fortum in the amount of about 75 billion rubles. until the end of the year. Despite the difficult financial situation of the company, there were many applications for the purchase of assets, the newspaper’s interlocutors said. It was assumed that the deal would be closed on July 1, but later the deadline was shifted to the end of July.

Presidential Decree No. 520, which froze these transactions, was signed 5th of August. It is specified that the document is aimed at protecting the national interests of the state and introduces special measures in the financial and fuel and energy sectors against “unfriendly countries” and international organizations because of their actions.

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