The Latvian government has decided to renounce to the acquisition of a 47.23% stake in national gas company Latvijas Gaze, put for sale by E.ON Ruhrgas (Germany), citing budget constraints. The government had a first-buyer option, for about €220m, but the price proposed by E.ON was considered prohibitive. In September 2014, two Lithuanian energy companies - Lithuania national energy company Lietuvos Energija and EPSO-G, a subsidiary of the Lithuanian Ministry of Energy - had made a joint non-binding bid to buy E.ON's stake.
E.ON is the main shareholder in the company, in partnership with Gazprom (34%) an Itera Latvia (16%). Latvijas Gaze is a vertically-integrated gas company, active in gas supply, transmission, storage (largest gas storage facility of Europe in Incukalns with 2.3 bcm) and distribution. In 2013, the company sold 1,452 mcm of gas to nearly 1.6 million customers, mainly to the power sector (980 mcm), to commercials (178 mcm), industry (167 mcm) and households (127 mcm).
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