OREANDA-NEWS. On November 28, 2007 RAO "UES of Russia" held public auctions to sell its stakes in the following ERCs: OAO "Marienergosbyt", OAO "Buryatenergosbyt", OAO "Omsk Energy Retail Company", and OAO "Tomsk Energy Retail Company", 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 start prices for the shareholdings in the ERCs equal to the market value determined based on the report prepared by a consortium of independent appraisers were as follows:

49 percent stake in OAO "Marienergosbyt": RUB150 million.
46.8 percent stake in OAO "Buryatenergosbyt": RUB200 million.
49 percent stake in OAO "Omsk Energy Retail Company": RUB300 million.
52.03 percent stake in OAO "Tomsk Energy Retail Company": RUB240 million.

In order to improve efficiency of the retail assets divestiture, RAO "UES of Russia" has altered the procedure for holding the third series of auctions to sell its 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.

Results of Auctions
The 64,44 percent stake in Marienergosbyt was sold to OOO "Simvol-Trans", which made the best bid of RUB151 million. The winning bid was RUB1 million higher than the auction start price. There were two bidders for the stake in Marienergosbyt.

The 46,8 percent stake in Buryatenergosbyt was sold to OOO "Regional Company Reserve" with a RUB201 million bid, which was RUB1 million higher than the start price. There were two bidders for the stake in Buryatebergosbyt.

The 49 percent stake in Omsk Retail Company was sold to OAO "Roskommunenergo" with the highest bid of RUB307,150 million, which was more than RUB7 million higher than the start price. There were three bidders for the stake in Omsk Energy Retail Company.

The 52,03 percent stake in Tomsk Energy Retail Company was sold to OOO "Regional Company Reserve", which offered RUB242 million for the shares, or RUB2 million higher than the start price. There were two bidders for the stake in Tomsk Energy 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 "Novgorod Retail Company" were not held for lack of bids.