New Board Members Appointed to the Gas Transmission Network on Wednesday

An extraordinary general meeting held by AS Võrguteenus Valdus with Elering as a majority shareholder appointed a new supervisory board last week, and the new board elected a new management board for the company. Similar changes also took place in AS EG Võrguteenus, a subsidiary of AS Võrguteenus Valdus.

AS Elering management board members Taavi Veskimägi, Peep Soone, Kalle Kilk and Strategy Manager Kalle Kukk were appointed to the company’s supervisory board following the decision of the extraordinary general meeting held by AS Võrguteenus Valdus’ shareholders. The new supervisory board elected the Head of System Development Department Mart Landsberg and lawyer Taavi Vospert as management board members of AS Võrguteenus Valdus. The same people were elected to the new supervisory board and management board of AS EG Võrguteenus as well. Authorisations for former board members of the companies ended on 18th January.

Mart Landsberg who started work as an executive director of Võrguteenus Valgus and EG Võrguteenus graduated from Tallinn University of Technology with a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering in 2002 and also received his doctoral degree from the same university in 2008. Landsberg has worked at Eesti Energia and Elering for more than 20 years. Amongst other roles, he has also directed the Baltic Sea regional workshop of the European electricity transmission system operators’ cooperating organisation ENTSO-E, and he has also directed the creation of the Baltics’ network development plan, which is a good foundation for efficiently working on major projects of the cross border gas network.

“My role is to ensure the everyday functioning and development of the gas transmission network, including the progression of the Balticconnector gas interconnection project, using the experience gathered in preparing cross-border electricity projects,” Landsberg commented on his primary work assignments.

According to Elering’s Chairman of the Board and Võrguteenus Valdus’ Chairman of the Supervisory Board Taavi Veskimägi, this year’s goal is to make preparations, so that the united electricity and gas transmission system operator can start work at the beginning of 2016. “Connecting the knowledge gathered in both the fields of electricity and gas creates good premises to develop a competitive regional gas market with many market participants by the end of this decade, which is the best security of supply guarantee for Estonian consumers,” he noted.

At the general assembly, Taavi Veskimägi introduced Elering’s purchase offer to the joint shareholders of Võrguteenus Valdus, which states that Elering is ready to buy the shares of Võrguteenus Valdus belonging to them based on the same price that they recently paid for the company’s majority from Fortum. Elering is offering approximately 0.54 euros for every B-share of Võrguteenus Valdus. Shareholders can complete an application letter to sell their shares on Elering’s webpage from 1st to 25th June this year.

The deadline for Võrguteenus Valdus other A-share owners to present application letters in order to use pre-emption regarding the former shareholding in Fortum has now passed. No application letters were submitted.