ARMENIA APPROVES SALE OF ELECTRICITY NETWORKS TO RUSSIA

Armenpress

MOSCOW, JULY 20, ARMENPRESS: Armenia’s authorities have authorized a
U.K.-based Midland Resources Holding Ltd. to sell its 100% stake in
the Armenian Electricity Networks (AEN) to Interenergo, a subsidiary
of Russia’s Inter UES.

Interenergo is a joint venture of Inter UES (60%), a subsidiary
of Russia’s electricity monopoly Unified Energy System (UES), and
state-owned Rosenergoatom (40%), the world’s largest nuclear energy
company. The deal was approved by the Public Services Regulatory
Commission of Armenia Wednesday. Under Armenian energy legislation,
the company was not entitled to sell its shares in the AEN without
obtaining permission from the Armenian government and the committee.

Interenergo said it was willing to lease AEN for a 99 year
term. Midland Resources had acquired 100% of AEN shares for $40
million.

Margarita Grigorian, a spokeswoman for AEN, could not tell when the
deal will be formalized and would not disclose its price, saying it
would be announced after signing the deal.