20 May 2004 05:47
Investors ask govt to prevent Sayano-Shushenskaya de-privatization
MOSCOW. May 20 (Interfax) - The Investor Protection Association has asked the Russian government, as the largest
shareholder of national grid operator Unified Energy System, to consider filing a case on the protection of investors
rights in the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower station.
The association's director, Sergei Generalov, wrote to Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov on Wednesday to say that
the East-Siberian District Court ruling on the illegality of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower plant's
privatization "led to a considerable drop in prices for UES shares and other power companies."
The government lost over $1.5 billion due to this, Generalov said. "Various investors saw this precedent as the
first step in a large-scale re-nationalization process and consequent property re-distribution in Russia," which
analysts say was one of the factors that triggered a slump in prices for Russia's government and corporate
securities in April.
The de-privatization of the Sayano-Shushenskaya plant will threaten the electricity industry's reform program.
"Analysts say that the events could delay the reform program for years, which will also lead to considerable losses
for the government," Generalov said. [RU ASIA EUROPE EEU EMRG ENR ELG IPO STX GVD DBT] me
[Interfax] |
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