Chief Executive Fulvio Conti of Enel SpA (ENEL.MI) said Saturday OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) has "indicated" the power plant in Italy it wants a minority stake in, as part of the Russian energy company's plans to enter the Mediterranean country.
Gazprom "has indicated a [Enel] natural gas-fired plant along the Adriatic," said CEO Conti at a conference in Russia to inaugurate construction of a new generating facility.
Conti's comments were first reported by the Italian newswire Ansa and later confirmed by a company spokeswoman.
Enel's CEO didn't name the plant. In April, Conti said the minority stake offered, in a list of Italian facilities, to Gazprom was worth $200 million to $250 million.
Gazprom is looking at a stake of about 20% in the Italian power plant, said a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named.
Enel has large energy operations in Russia and estimates it will be one of the countries with the highest power-demand growth markets in Europe. The Rome-based utility has a majority stake in Russian wholesaler power generator OAO OGK-5 (OGKE.RS).