Gas Transmission System Operator to be named Elering Gaas AS

The business name of the gas transmission system operator EG Võrguteenus AS, which is controlled by Elering, will be Elering Gaas AS, and the company will use Elering’s trademark.

Elering’s goal is to create a united electricity and gas system operator in Estonia. “In merging the companies, we have now reached the point where the support functions in the two companies are largely performed under the same terms. At this point, EG Võrguteenus AS is no longer a separate company, but an organic part of Elering, though still legally distinct. Changing the business name of EG Võrguteenus, and gathering the companies under the same identity, shows the extent to which we have integrated the companies. From now on, the gas transmission network will use Elering’s trademark,” said Elering’s Chairman of the Board, Taavi Veskimägi, commenting on the change.

The divisions are managed through functional work groups created between the two companies. In the short term, the greatest challenge will be to continue with the gas market development programme and its implementation. Considering the number of gas traders added in the last couple of months and the rapidly developing gas market, the first priority is to conclude settling the balance management organisation to ensure equal treatment for all market participants, including the creation of fair and comprehensible rules that will support gas trading. For that reason, a work group which includes representatives of Elering and market participants has been created in addition to the Gas Market Development Council launched by Elering.

In the course of developing the Estonian-Finnish gas interconnection Balticconnector, the finalisation of the location of the Estonian mainland portion of the gas pipe and the conclusion of land use contracts are coming to an end, while applications for building permits from local authorities continue. Since the beginning of the year, the Balticconnector project team has been enlarged in order to move along more quickly with project preparations. Elering’s goal is to be ready to make its application for the Balticconnector construction project on the Estonian side in order to receive co-financing from the European Union as early as this year.

The name change came into force with an entry in the business register on April 10. Officials at the gas transmission network will use e-mail addresses ending in elering.ee starting in May. For the time being, the legal address will continue to be Punane 56, Tallinn.