Azernews.Az

BUCHAREST – Transgaz SA, Romania’s state-owned utility, plans to invest 183 million lei ($61 million) in 2011 for strategic development and 547 million lei in 2012, of which 400 million lei are earmarked for the Nabucco gas pipeline, Bloomberg reported according to Elisabeta Ghidiu, a company spokeswoman.

Nabucco project id designed to transport gas from the Caspian region and the Middle East to the EU countries. The project is worth 7.9 billion euro, with its construction planned to start in 2012 and the first supplies to be commissioned in 2015. The project's participants include the Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas and German RWE.

Romanian company asked the government to allow the sale of more shares than planned on the stock exchange, to help finance upgrade investments.

The natural-gas grid operator asked for approval for a sale of as much as 14 percent, worth about 110 million euros ($153 million) on top of the 15 percent stake the government already plans to offer on the stock exchange, Ghidiu said in an interview in Bucharest.

Ghidiu said Transgaz hopes to sell at least a 7 percent stake, valued at 60 million euros, which would allow the state to retain a majority in the utility.

"We sent the primary-offer proposal to the economy ministry because we need money to fund our investments," she said. "I don’t expect them to agree with all of it, we want them to approve the idea and then start working on it together."

Romania plans to sell minority holdings of its utilities and the largest oil company, OMV Petrom SA (SNP), to meet international bailout conditions and cover infrastructure investments. Transgaz is seeking funds to upgrade its outdated gas pipes and for strategic development plans, including connecting its power grid with other countries, Ghidiu said.