Russian Energy Giant to Sell Coal Asset in Kazakhstan

Russian Gazprom Energoholding will sell the company Angrensor Trading registered in Yekibastuz and deals with wholesale coal supplies, Orda reports, citing RBK.

The organization has been wholly owned by Russians since 2016.

RBK writes that the holding will sell Angrensor Trading for 23.4 billion rubles. The bidding will last until December 27, and the results will be announced the following day.

Gazprom Energoholding declined to comment on this matter to Russian journalists.

Angrensor Trading is a wholesale supplier of Yekibastuz coal. The company was registered in 2011, and since 2016, it has belonged to its Russian founders (stakeholders)  — PJSC Centerenergoholding and PJSC Second Generating Company of the Wholesale Electricity Market.

Both of these organizations are part of Gazprom Energoholding.

They bought Angrensor Trading for next to nothing — two million rubles: the coal supplier had significant debts.

The Russian energy giant gained control over the source of Yekibastuz coal, which powers two large power plants in Russia — Troitskaya (Chelyabinsk Region) and Serovskaya (Sverdlovsk Region).

The purchase of Angrensor allowed the Russians to move away from dollar settlements. After acquiring the trader, the new owners paid off its debts at their own expense.

Angrensor Trading owns 100% of Angrensor Energo, which extracts Yekibastuz coal. LLP Angrensor Ltd (responsible for the rail transportation of coal) is also registered at the same address as these two companies.

In 2024, Angrensor Trading paid more than 22.4 million tenge in taxes to the budget, 17% less than in 2023.

The company's tax payments have been steadily declining since 2021.

At that time, they amounted to 95.6 million tenge, and at its best, Angrensor Trading transferred up to 291.6 million tenge to the treasury of Kazakhstan per year. Since 2015, the organization has paid more than a billion tenge in taxes to the budget.

At the same time, Angrensor had a negative asset value (-33.7 billion tenge at the end of 2023) and notable accumulated losses (58.6 billion tenge).

The company had debts to contractors, including BAS Quarry LLP, the sole owner of Angrensor Ltd LLP. Therefore, the auditors doubted that the trader could continue its operations.

RBK notes that supplies of Kazakhstan's coal to Russia have declined for the second year.

Troitskaya GRES did not receive any coal from Angrensor Energo in 2024. Stations built back in the Soviet period were designed to use Yekibastuz coal, but now they plan to switch to other fuel types, such as Russian coal and natural gas.

Original Author: Nikita Drobny