Leipzig utility, VNG eye Poland

Germany's Leipzig city utility (SWL) and eastern German gas distributor VNG were chosen by Lithuanian partners to take a 20% stake in a Klaipeda-based district heat company, SWL said on Friday. The move reflected the companies' strategy to expand their involvement in eastern European utilities, with another bid in Poland pending, said Thomas Schroeter, the head of Leipzig's foreign transactions division. SWL a year ago bought an 85% stake in Polish heat supply company Zakład Energetyki Cieplnej of Tczew, 60 kilometers south of Gdańsk, and is presently bidding for a majority stake in Gdańsk-based GPEC, which supplies the Polish port city with district heat. According to Schroeter, there were two other bidders for GPEC, Dalkia International, an energy services venture jointly owned by EDF and Vivendi Environnement, and Polish firm Elektrociepłownia Gdańsk. SWL plans to submit its bid for GPEC by the end of June. - Reuters