Veskimägi: Acquiring Holding in Itera Will Pave The Way To Developing Unified Electricity and Gas System Operator In Estonia.

Elering AS has concluded a transaction to buy a 10 per cent holding in AS Võrguteenus Valdus, the gas transmission network lead company, which is the parent company of Elering Gaas AS. Acquiring a holding paves the way to launching a unified electricity and gas system operator in Estonia.

Elering paid 5.4 million euros to Itera for a 10 per cent holding. Together with the previous acquisition of holdings from Fortum, Gazprom and small shareholders, Elering now holds 99.1 per cent of shares in Võrguteenus Valdus. Elering has acquired all the shares at the same price. As a next step, Elering is planning to acquire the remaining portion of shares constituting less than one per cent that is still held by minority shareholders.

According to the Chairman of the Elering Board, Taavi Veskimägi, acquiring a 100 per cent holding in the gas transmission network provides the opportunity to achieve the goal set out in Elering’s 2010 strategy to develop the company into a unified electricity and gas system operator in Estonia. “Separating the ownership of the gas transmission network from gas traders and creating a unified system operator is an important step in liberating the Estonian gas market. The first nine months in the existence of Elering Gaas, the exclusive gas transmission network company, has already justified this decision with an aim to developing a united Baltic-Finnish gas market,” said Veskimägi. “From the beginning of 2016, Elering’s goal is to start operating as a definitively integrated united electricity and gas system operator.”