Eesti Energia Documents Leaked, Investments Postponed
The Eesti Päevaleht daily quoted confidential Eesti Energia documents last Thursday indicating that the state-owned energy giant could seek over a billion euros in government investments in the next eight years, while the company announced on Sunday that it will not ask for any state funding in 2013.
The company's anouncement contradicts separate press reports saying that Eesti Energia had been planning to ask the state for major investments as early as this year.
According to the Eesti Päevaleht article, Eesti Energia's supervisory board has discussed building another two oil producing facilities, a refinery and a new shale oil power plant.
The daily asserts the company has five investment scenarios ranging from zero investments into new projects to a 1.05 billion euro makeover that would transform Eesti Energia from a primarily electricity generating outfit to a mostly oil producing company.
Margus Kaasik, a member of the management board, is reported to have told the supervisory board that the company has maxed out its borrowing limits and the state would have to fund 100 percent of any investments if the company is not floated on the stock market or other investors found.
On Saturday, Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi told Postimees that he had previously warned the supervisory board members not to leak any e-mails or protocols of meetings to the press, adding, “Replacing the supervisory board would be an extreme, but not unthinkable consequence.”
Sandor Liive, the CEO of Eesti Energia, told the same newspaper on Sunday that a decision on future investments will be made in the fall, as the opening of the Enefit280 shale oil plant has been postponed.
The daily reported that the company had planned to ask for 200 million euros in 2013, but even if new investments get the green light, construction won't go ahead before January 2014.