Russia Inter RAO to hold GDR roadshow March 17-20

MOSCOW, March 14 (Reuters) - Russian electricity import and export firm Inter RAO said on Friday it would hold a roadshow in London, Frankfurt and Moscow next week before the planned launch of its global depository receipt programme.

The firm, a unit of the former electricity monopoly Unified Energy System (UES) EESR.MM, said it would on March 17-20 hold consultations with over 20 international investment funds to inform them about its mid-term plans and development strategy.

Inter RAO plans to start trading its shares in the Russian stock market in July and launch a programme in August to allow investors to swap GDRs of UES for those of Inter RAO.

"Upon completion of these meetings, holders of UES's GDRs will take decisions on whether to swap them to Inter RAO's securities," the firm said in the statement.

UES, which holds a 60 percent stake in Inter RAO, is in the process of selling off all of its assets as part of a sweeping reform aimed at increasing competition in the power sector.

Inter RAO, the rest of which is owned by state nuclear energy monopoly Rosenergoatom, is considered a strategic asset and will be controlled by the state after it is broken off from UES. (Reporting by Tanya Mosolova)