August 27 (SeeNews) - The takeover of Moldovan gas transmission company Vestmoldtransgaz by Romanian peer Transgaz [BSE:TGN] will be finalised next week, the Romanian economy ministry said on Monday.
A team of experts from Eurotransgaz, the company owned by Transgaz in Moldova, will travel to Chisinau at the end of the following week to make an inventory of Vestmoldtransgaz's patrimony and then make the takeover effective, the economy ministry said in a press release.
"The support provided by the Moldovan partner during this period, from the moment of signing the contract to present, combined with the sustained efforts of the interdisciplinary teams of Eurotransgaz and Transgaz, helped us to come to the moment of finalising the transaction, according to the agreed schedule," economy minister Danut Andrutca said.
Following the completion of the takeover of Vestmoldtransgaz, the purchase and construction stages for the Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline, which is essential for Moldova's energy security, will be completed, Transgaz's general manager Ion Sterian said.
"The complexity of the privatisation process of the Moldovan company by Eurotransgaz involved considerable efforts on both sides," Sterian added.
In March, a contract for the privatisation of Vestmoldtransgaz for 180.2 million Moldovan lei ($10.9 million/8.8 million euro) was signed.
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Through its Moldovan subsidiary Eurotransgaz, Transgaz has committed to invest over 93 million euro ($115 million) in Vestmoldtransgaz in the next two years.
Vestmoldtransgaz operates the gas transmission link between Moldova's Ungheni and Romania's Iasi. Eurotransgaz plans to launch the construction of the Ungheni-Chisinau gas transmission pipeline within up to two years.
Transgaz's shares traded 1.14% higher at 355 lei on the Bucharest Stock Exchange by 1455 CET on Thursday.
(1 euro=19.3642 Moldovan lei)