RosUkrEnergo Going Public?

The owner of 45% of RosUkrEnergo (RUE), Dmitry Firtash, confirmed the company’s earlier announcements about making an IPO. According to Firtash, by doing IPO the company intends to raise money to invest in gas storage and transit facilities. Firtash said that RUE and Gazprom will announce three joint projects this summer, and will build 6 bln to 7 bln cm of gas storage space in Europe by 2009. Gazprom Spokesman Sergei Kuprianov said the Russian company was only made aware of Firtash’s role in the past few days but intends to continue with the venture notwithstanding. Concorde Capital: These official statements confirm speculations about the personalities involved in RUE business.  Clearly both the disclosure of RUE’s ownership and the IPO announcement, were initiated by the Russian side and are aimed at restricting the EU’s and Ukraine’s leverage in gas talks. The IPO, if it indeed happens, will bolster the public images of RUE and Gazprom and will enable them to resist political pressure under the banner of defending minority interests.