Enel leaves Russia. Activities in Lukoil and the Gazprom Frezia- Corriere.it fund

Enel bids farewell to Russia with a check for approximately 137 million euros, collected from the sale of 3 gas plants (for approximately 5.6 GW of capacity) and two wind farms, one in operation and the other under construction. from 300 MW of capacity.

In 2019, the group led by Francesco Starace had already sold a coal-fired power plant in the Urals, to reduce the generation of electricity from fossil sources. Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine accelerated divestment, with the sale of the entire stake, equal to 56.43% in the capital of the subsidiary Pjsc Enel Russia, listed on the Moscow Stock Exchange, Lukoil and the Gazprom Frezia fund. At a price below the approximately 200 million that the share was worth 18 months ago.

Enel had already reached an agreement for the sale of Russian assets in mid-June, but in early August the Kremlin issued a new provision banning all companies from countries considered hostile by Moscow from selling assets to Russia. But there are exceptions. That the buyer Lukoil claimed for Enel. After the approval of the sale by President Putin and the green light of the Russian antitrust authority at the end of September, Enel was therefore able to finalize the transaction.

After exiting the Russian market, Enel will concentrate above all on countries where it has an integrated position along the value chain and can drive growth by leveraging the opportunities offered by the energy transition. Already today, more than half of the generated capacity derives from renewable sources which make Enel the world’s leading private operator in green sources.

On November 22, on the occasion of the presentation of the new strategic plan, Starace will announce the next goals of the group, which turns 60 this year. Overall, the Russian operation generated a positive effect on consolidated net financial debt of approximately € 610 million a negative impact on net profit of approximately 1.3 billion, mainly due to the release of the foreign exchange translation reserve, amounting to approximately one billion at 30 September. But this accounting effect will not have an impact on ordinary economic results, specifies the electricity group.