MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's ESN Group, controlled by businessman Grigory Berezkin, is considering buying the Reftinskaya coal power plant from Italy's Enel (MI:ENEI), Berezkin told Reuters late on Monday.
Enel, Italy's biggest utility, has mandated Sberbank to arrange the sale of the plant as it was switching to the renewable business, including the wind power.
Enel is one of several foreign firms which bought into the Russian power sector in the last decade when the state monopoly was broken up.
"We don't exclude this, we have done a due-dilligence, we are looking at this option," Berezkin told Reuters when asked about his interest to buy the Reftinskaya plant.
Enel Russia's chief, Carlo Palasciano, told Reuters in September that the Italian company has received interest from potential buyers including from outside of Russia.
Gazprom (MCX:GAZP), the world's top gas producer, was also considering to buy into Reftinskaya, after being approached by Sberbank with a proposal, Gazprom Energoholding head Denis Fedorov told Reuters in October.
Enel had said earlier that the selling process was underway and all binding bids would probably be in place by the end of the year, while the sale was seen in the first quarter of 2018.