(Prensa Web RNV) - "Venezuela's Government, represented by its main industry, PDVSA (Venezuelan Petroleum), and North-American AES, bigger stockholder of 'Electricidad de Caracas' (Caracas's electric company - EDC), signed an understanding memorandum looking for a buying and selling agreement of the company.

Energy and Petroleum popular power minister, Mr. Rafael Ramírez, and AES's president, Paul Hanrahan, have signed representing the involved parties.

Ramírez told 'Negotiations were made in a very short amount of time, and according to our President's guidelines regarding our strategic and national interests on having control over our entire electrical sector'.

On his behalf, Paul Hanrahan, after declaring his satisfaction over the terms in which negotiation was made, did a recount of AES work in Venezuela . He pointed out that of every businesses made in every country, this has been the more fruitful one, while mentioning the social programs developed by Electricidad de Caracas.

The entity acquiring the shares of stock will be PDVSA. The agreed amount in negotiations belonging to 83% of stock share from EDC amounts to 739 million dollars. It was informed that the operation will close before April 30th this year.

Executive Vice-President, Jorge Rodríguez, chaired the act, and highlighted that this agreement is a demonstration that ' Venezuela 's government is not only respectful of the state of rights, but also of the prevailing of the Republic's sovereignty and its word. President Chávez has given his word to all Venezuelans that we would rescue the strategic enterprises condition, control over electrical enterprises, telecom enterprises and those enterprises over the petrol band, and within the next days we will be making progressive announcements about these transactions'.

The signing took place in Miraflores Palace's press room, in Caracas City , and is part of the Nationalization Plan on national electric sector announced last January by Venezuelan State chief, Hugo Chávez Frías.

AES threw on April 2000 a public offering of acquisition over EDC that allowed AES to get ahold of about 73% of the company's stock. After a repurchasing and capital increases, AES's share came to a margin of 87%".