OREANDA-NEWS. February 02, 2010. The Government of the Republic of Estonia decided to separate the transmission system operator (TSO) Elering OU from Eesti Energia and in December 2009 Eesti Energia and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications entered into the share sale agreement. On 27 January the transaction was closed and as of today Elering OU is no longer part of the Eesti Energia Group, reported the press-centre of Eesti Energia.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications acquired the share in Elering OU for 2.7 billion kroons (EUR 172.6 million), with the sale price based on a valuation by PricewaterhouseCoopers. At the beginning of January 2010, Elering OU repaid the intragroup loans taken from Eesti Energia. The sale of the company will not impair Eesti Energia’s financial capability or investment capacity.

The goal of the sale of Elering OU is to conform with European Union requirements that TSOs be independent from production and sales activity.

Elering OU is Estonian transmission system operator uniting Estonia’s biggest power stations, distribution networks and major consumers with the Baltic and Nordic as well as Russian energy systems. As the TSO, Elering is responsible for the operational reliability of the Estonian power system as a whole. The function of the company is to manage and coordinate cooperation between various parts of the power system in order to ensure operational reliability and high quality functioning of the system.

Eesti Energia Supervisory board approved last September the decision in principle to sell the TSO Elering OU to the Estonian state. Necessary consents for executing the transaction have been obtained from European Investment Bank and Nordic Investment Bank.