Prishtina, 05 March 2010 – The Minister of Energy and Mining is pleased to announce that there have been responses from a wide range of companies to the request for Expressions of Interest in the Kosova e Re power plant and mine project.

The Kosova e Re Project received Expressions of Interest from 6 consortia, comprising companies from 10 countries. The Pre-Qualification Document allows the Transaction Advisors to select from amongst the applicants the qualified bidders to progress through to the next stage of the Project. For an applicant to be considered as qualified, the company or consortia must meet the Pre-Qualification Criteria.  The Pre-Qualification Criteria were designed to ensure that candidates meet pre-determined financial, technical, and mining and power station development and operational thresholds.

The quality of the submissions was high, demonstrating a serious level of interest in the Kosova e Re project.  The Transaction Advisors have reviewed each Expression of Interest against the Pre-Qualification Criteria and presented their analysis and recommendations for short-listing to the Project Steering Committee.

The PSC has determined that 4 of the 6 applicants have submitted Expressions of Interest that meet the Pre-Qualification Criteria, and has chosen these applicants as short-listed Bidders for the Project.

The four Bidders are, in alphabetical order:

•    The Adani Power / PT Adani Global consortium from India and Indonesia
•    The AES Electric Ltd / Demir Export A.S. consortium from the USA and Turkey
•    The Park Holding submission from Turkey
•    The PPC / ContourGlobal LLP consortium from Greece and the UK/USA

The Transaction Advisors will soon be communicating with each of the applicants to express the PSC’s appreciation for making their submissions, and to express to the Bidders the PSC’s congratulations.   The PSC will also be inviting each Bidder to preliminary discussions on the Project and to provide the Bidders with further details on the anticipated process and timeline for the next stages of the Project.

The Minister and the Project Steering Committee are pleased with the level of interest shown in the Project and look forward to a competitive process as the Project continues.

Appendix: Summary information on Bidders

Adani Power Limited / P.T Adani Global

•    Indian/Singaporean conglomerate, backed by Adani Enterprises Limited, a €4.2bn turnover business with total assets of around €3bn
•    Successful track record of arranging finance and development of large power generation and mining projects (e.g. Tiroda power plant)
•    Ongoing development programme includes phased development of the Mundra 4620MW coal-fired plant in Gujarat and the Parsa Kente mine which has peak capacity of 20mtpa
•    Senior management with many years of experience from Indian power and mining companies
•    Will collaborate with SEPCO III from China for EPC and operations – SEPCO III has installed over 16,000MW of capacity and won the Luban prize for high project quality on 5 occasions
•    Websites:  www.adanigroup.com, www.adanipower.com, www.sepco3.com

AES Electric Power / Demir Export A.S.

•    USA / Turkish consortium, with turnover of over €11bn and total assets of over €25bn
•    Led by previous short-listed bidder and backed by AES Corp, largest IPP developer in the world
•    Successful track record of arranging finance (over €14bn in total) and development of power generation and mining projects (eg Maritsa East 1 power plant)
•    Ongoing development programme in power and mining, including 518MW Angamos coal plant in Chile
•    Senior management with many years of international IPP and mining experience
•    Operated over 30,000MW of thermal capacity over time, current operations include Kangal lignite mine in Turkey and Puerto Rico coal plant in the USA
•    Websites: www.aes.com, www.koc.com.tr

Park Holding A.S.

•    A Turkish conglomerate  with turnover of over €350m and total assets of around €1bn
•    Successful track record of arranging finance and development of power generation and mining projects
•    Ongoing development programme including the Collolar coal field which has a peak capacity of over 17mtpa
•    Experience of developing and operating integrated power/mining projects such as Cayirhan (620MW and 5mtpa) in Turkey
•    Senior management with many years of experience from Turkish power and mining companies
•    Website: www.cinergroup.com.tr

PPC / ContourGlobal LLP

•    Greek / USA consortium, with turnover of over €5bn and assets of over €14bn
•    Previous short-listed bidder
•    Successful track record of arranging finance and development of power generation and mining projects, including the Sochagota coal fired plant in Columbia and the Kardia mine in Greece with a capacity of 12.4mtpa
•    Awarded “Deal of the Year” by Euromoney Project Finance Magazine for their thermal power plant in Togo, West Africa
•    Ongoing development programme including Aliveri plant in Greece and
•    Senior management with many years of international IPP and mining experience
•    Operates mines producing over 50mtpa and over 6,000MW  of thermal capacity, including assets in Greece and Boyaca in Columbia
•    Website: www.die.gr, www.contourglobal.com