National power monopoly Unified Energy Systems will require investors in generating companies to upgrade and expand capacity to meet demand.
"We are preparing agreements with future shareholders that would set out investment obligations," spokeswoman Tatyana Milyayeva said Wednesday. The utility is selling stakes of as much as 40 percent in its units to strategic investors and wants to ensure that improvements are made.
UES is planning $16 billion of stock offerings in its units this year and next to help fund more than $60 billion of investments in generation capacity. Power consumption is forecast to increase 5 percent per year through 2010, straining the country's aging equipment.
The agreements will give UES the right to block major acquisitions of assets or shares, and may allow the utility to control the hiring and firing of executives, Interfax reported Wednesday. Strategic investors will be allowed to sell shares only to buyers who sign a similar agreement, the agency said.
OGK-3, a wholesale power generator in which Italy's Enel has expressed interest, is seeking to raise $1.6 billion in a share sale next month. Enel CEO Fulvio Conti called for clarification Tuesday about how the sales would be handled and whether existing shareholders would have a priority right to some stock.
On Tuesday, head of UES Anatoly Chubais said his company needed 3.1 trillion rubles ($117.7 billion) in investment funds through 2010. Chubais also said Tuesday that turbine maker Power Machines, partly owned by UES, was hoping to attract some $1 billion by 2010.
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