MOSCOW, 26 April. /TASS/. Fortum has not received official confirmation from the Russian authorities about the introduction of temporary management in respect of the company's stakes in Russian assets. This is stated in the Finnish company said in a press release.

"At this point Fortum has not received official confirmation from the Russian authorities and the company is currently investigating the situation. <…> Fortum’s current understanding is that the new decree does not affect the title (registered ownership) of the assets and companies in Russia. However, it remains unclear how this affects e.g. Fortum’s Russian operations or the ongoing divestment process," the company says.

The book value of the Finnish group's assets in Russia is estimated at 1.7 billion euros.

About decree

On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to place foreign stakes in two energy companies - Russian subsidiaries of Unipro and Fortum - under administrative receivership.

The document, published on Tuesday, appoints the Russian Federal Agency for State Property Management (Rosimushchestvo) as the administrative receiver. The federal agency will exercise external management over 83.73%-percent stake in Unipro Russia and over 98%-percent stake in Fortum’s Russian division. The move was made in response to some states’ unfriendly actions towards Russia.

About company

The Russian division of the Finnish group Fortum includes the Russian Fortum (owns 94.88%), as well as TGK-1 (owns 29.45%). The company carries out activities for the production and sale of electrical and thermal energy. It includes seven thermal power plants in the Urals and Western Siberia, a wind power plant in the Ulyanovsk region and three solar power plants in the Orenburg region and the republic of Bashkortostan. In general, the total portfolio of Fortum and joint ventures in the field of renewable energy sources is 3.4 GW.