Kyrgyzstan expects new stage of negotiations with Gazprom on Kyrgyzgaz purchase in Sept
BISHKEK. Aug 28 (Interfax) - The Kyrgyz government expects a new stage of negotiations related to Gazprom's purchase of the government's 75% plus one share in OJSC Kyrgyzgaz to start in the middle of September.
"The appraisal of the Kyrgyz gas transport monopoly will be complete by September 15. At that same time, a Gazprom delegation is expected to arrive in Bishkek to approve the numbers generated during the appraisal," Kyrgyzgaz's General Director Turgunbek Kulmurzayev said at a Tuesday press conference.
After the parties discuss their positions regarding the value of the state-owned stake, "domestic procedures" will begin on coordinating Kyrgyzgaz's privatization with the government and on the Kyrgyz parliament ratifying the agreement to sell a strategic object, he said.
The Moscow representation of auditing company Deloitte & Touche is appraising the government-owned stake in Kyrgyzgaz.
Gazprom and Kyrgyzstan have been negotiating the privatization of the state-owned Kyrgyzgaz stake for almost two years. In April, Russia and Kyrgyzstan developed a privatization program for the company, which was signed by Gazprom's Deputy CEO Valery Golubev and Kyrgyz Energy and Industry Minister Askarbek.