OREANDA-NEWS. July 12, 2012. Having considered a petition of “Gazprombank” OJSC for FAS approval to acquire 50.9% voting shares of “Moscow Integrated Electric Grid Company” OJSC in trust management, the antimonopoly body refused to grant approval, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.        

The decision was made in view of the following circumstances:

From the submitted documents (materials), FAS Russia established that “Gazprom” OJSC owns 41.73 % voting shares of “Gazprombank” OJSC.

Under Clause 4 of No.948-1 Law of RSFSR “On Competition and Restricting Monopolistic Activity on Goods Markets” of 22nd March 1991, this circumstance shows affiliation of “Gazprombank” OJSC and “Gazprom” OJSC.

The list of affiliated persons of “Gazprom” OJSC also includes legal persons in power and electrification - “Mosenergo” OJSC, “No.1 TGK” OJSC, “Second Generating Company of the Wholesale Market” OJSC, “Sixth Generating Company of the Wholesale Market” OJSC, mainly involved in electric power generation.

Under Article 6 of the Federal Law “On Specifics of Performance of Electric Power Industry in the Transitional Period and on Introducing Amendments to Some Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation, and Some Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Losing Effect due to Adopting the Federal Law “On Electric Power Industry””, legal persons, individual entrepreneurs as well as affiliated persons within the boundaries of the same price zone are prohibited to combine electric power transmission and (or) operational dispatch management in electric power industry with generation and (or) buying-and-selling electric power.

Thus, completing the transaction petitioned by “Gazprombank” OJSC would result in combining electric power transmission with generating electric power by legal entities affiliated with “Gazprom” OJSC.

“Gazprombank” OJSC also failed to unconditionally execute the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” in the part of submitting information about persons, in the interests of whom over 5 % of petitioner’s shares are possessed by their nominal holders: the company failed to submit information about the physical persons in the interests of whom over 5 % of petitioner’s shares are possessed.

In view of the block of the above circumstances, FAS refused to grant approval as the transaction could have resulted in violating Article 6 of the Federal Law “On Specifics of Performance of Electric Power Industry in the Transitional Period and on Introducing Amendments to Some Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation, and Some Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Losing Effect due to Adopting the Federal Law “On Electric Power Industry””.