OREANDA-NEWS. On November 27, 2007 RAO "UES of Russia" held the third series of public auctions to sell its shares in the energy retail companies (OAO "Vladimir Energy Retail Company", OAO "Lipetsk Energy Retail Company", and OAO "Tula Retail Company"). The stake held by RAO "UES of Russia" each of these subsidiaries was 49%. Auction bids were accepted from 1 November to 26 November 2007, reported the press-centre of RAO "UES of Russia".

The public auctions were arranged by OAO "Urals Energy Management Company", an Accredited Agent of RAO "UES of Russia", in accordance with the applicable Russian laws and pursuant to the resolutions taken by the RAO UES Board of Directors on 31 August 2007.

The reserve prices of the shareholdings in the energy retail companies equal to the market value was determined based on the report prepared by a consortium of independent appraisers were as follows:

49% stake in OAO "Vladimir Energy Retail Company": RUB290 million.
49% stake in OAO "Lipetsk Energy Retail Company": RUB250 million.
49% stake in OAO "Tula Retail Company": RUB410 million.

In order to improve efficiency of the retail assets divestiture, RAO "UES of Russia" has changed the procedure for holding auctions to sell energy retail companies' shares. Under the new Auction Regulations, auctions now use a sealed bidding procedure. During an auction, the bidders are to submit their bids, which must not be lower that the reserve price, in sealed envelopes to the Auction Commission. The envelopes will be opened by members of the Auction Commission in the presence of all auction participants. The shares will be sold to the highest bidder.

Auction Results:
The 49 percent stake in OAO "Vladimir Energy Retail Company" was sold to OOO "Trans-Servis", which offered RUB295 million for the shares. The auction price was RUB5 million higher than the reserve price. There were two bidders for the stake in Vladimir Energy Retail Company.

The 49% stake in OAO "Lipetsk Energy Retail Company" was sold to a natural person with a RUB501,5 million bid. The winning bid was twice the auction start price. There were two bidders in the auction to sell the stake in Lipetsk Energy Retail Company.

The 49 percent stake in OAO "Tula Retail Company" was sold to OOO "IFC Metropol" with the RUB490 million bid. The winning bid was RUB80 million higher than the reserve price. There were three bidders for the stake in Tula Retail Company. After the auction, RAO "UES of Russia" and the auction winners signed auction minutes and Share Purchase Agreements in respect of the ERC shares previously held by RAO UES.

The auctions to sell stakes in OAO "Oryol Retail Company" and OAO "Kostroma Retail Company" were not held for lack of bids.