Gazprom is free to bid for Centrica: Reports |
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Wed, 26 Apr 2006 15:10
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LONDON - A report in the Financial Times has said that the Blair government will not place any roadblocks if Russian gas giant Gazprom were to bid for Centrica. Shares in Centrica edged up by 4 percent as the news of the report spread.
Gazprom's deputy chief executive Alexander Medvedev had reiterated his company's interest in Centrica. Gazprom also revealed that the UK government had intimated that reports of opposition to the deal were exaggerated. "Centrica is considered as one of our potential acquisitions but it's very difficult to find a company that is not on our watch list,” Medvedev told the BBC.
He added that Gazprom was looking to transform itself from a gas supplier to an energy company and towards this end was looking to acquire a stake in European power stations. "The role of Russian gas will grow, we have enough reserves to supply gas to Europe, the US, China and Korea," he commented.
On his part, Prime Minister Tony Blair wants to stick to the commitment to open up UK markets and hence has ruled out vetoing any potential bids, FT reported. "Whatever the difficulties and challenges of globalization, the answers will not be found in the stagnant waters of protectionism," Trade Minister Alan Johnson was quoted as saying.
Earlier in February, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) had said that any moves by Gazprom towards Centrica would face "robust scrutiny" since "security of energy supply to the UK's consumers is paramount". Gazprom has an estimated third of all the reserves in the world and supplies about a quarter of all European needs. In January,. the company was embedded in a political storm after it cut supplies to Ukraine. That incident sparked off price rises in Europe.
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