SINTEZ Group Advances to Final Round in Privatization of Greece's DEPA and DESFA

MOSCOW, January 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

SINTEZ Group, the independent and privately-held Russian energy company, was informed by the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) that its subsidiary Negusneft OJSC has been selected to advance to the final round in the privatization of Greece's national gas company DEPA and gas grid operator DESFA.

SINTEZ Group and its advisers will now carry out the further due diligence required to make a comprehensive binding offer for the companies.

"We are pleased to have progressed to the final bidding round in the privatization process and we reaffirm our strong interest in the DEPA and DESFA businesses. SINTEZ Group is an independent company and we do not have the conflicts of interests as with some other bidders, who are state-owned gas producers. If we win the DEPA/DESFA auction we will be committed to comply in full with EU energy regulation, while at the same time diversifying gas supplies and investing in infrastructure to transform Greece into a natural gas transit hub. We remain confident that given our strategic focus on the Balkans and relevant sector expertise, SINTEZ Group is the right fit to further develop DEPA and DESFA," said Andrey Korolev, Chief Executive Officer of SINTEZ Group.

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

SINTEZ Group is is a privately held Russian company with diversified holdings in the power, oil and gas and property development sectors. The Group currently operates in Russia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Indonesia. Its core assets are Russia's Territorial Generating Company 2 (2532.5 MW capacity), the Combined-cycle Power and Heat Plant (220 MW and 160 Gcal/h capacity) in Skopje, Macedonia and the Varyngskoye oilfield in West Siberia region of Russia. More information can be found on the Group website: http://www.sintez.ru

For more information please contact:
Thomas Kiehn, M: Communications
Kiehn@mcomgroup.com
+44(0)782-794-3034 (London)
+7-916-444-0930 (Moscow)
Evgeniya Yashina, SINTEZ Group
eyashina@sintez-group.ru