"It is planned to transfer to AB Amber Grid, which will be established during the spin-off, the assets, rights, and obligations related to the unbundled activities of the company as of July 31, 2013," Lietuvos Dujos said in a statement published on the NASDAQ OMX Vilnius website.
The terms and conditions of the spin-off have been endorsed by Lietuvos Dujos' management board and the National Control Commission for Prices and Energy, and are yet to be approved by the company's shareholders, it said.
Lietuvos Dujos' unbundling plan, approved by the regulator last year, calls for its gas transmission functions to be spun off into a new company by Jul. 31, 2013 and for its distribution functions to be transferred to a newly-established subsidiary by Oct. 31, 2014.
Lietuvos Dujos' management board endorsed the terms and conditions of the unbundling on January 30, 2012. However, Gazprom's representatives on the board, Valery Golubev and Kiril Seleznev, voted for the approval with a reservation, saying that the Russian group was forced to approve the reorganization of the company, in which it holds a 37-percent stake, under pressure from Lithuania's authorities.
As part of the reorganization, which is aimed at bringing the company into line with the EU's third energy package and is to be completed by October 2014, the spun-off company will own the gas transmission pipelines, Lietuvos Dujos will continue to operate as a gas supplier and the newly established subsidiary will take over the distribution functions and pipelines.
Russia's Gazprom currently owns 37.06 percent of shares in Lietuvos Dujos, E.ON Ruhrgas International holds 38.9 percent, and the Lithuanian Energy Ministry holds 17.7 percent.
Lietuvos Dujos is quoted on the blue-chip Main List of the Vilnius stock exchange.
