The new Macedonian Cabinet plans to decide on whether to issue a tender for construction of Cebren and Galiste hydro power plants, the Macedonian Information Agency reported.

The government plans to presently make its decision on the report drafted by the commission in charge of bid evaluation, said Ivica Bocevski, a government spokeswoman. The government will state its position on the report after the elections, Bocevski said.

Germany's RWE and Austria's Verbund are the only companies that submitted bids during Wednesday's public opening of bids.

An evaluation period will follow the bids' opening, along with a selection of the best bid.

LUKoil to buy Croatian firm

Russia's LUKoil purchased Croatia's EUROPA-MIL, Prime Tass news agency reported, quoting a company official.

The purchased assets include nine refueling stations in the cities of Zagreb and Split, five plots of land for the construction of refueling stations, and a rail-and-water terminal in the city of Vukovar on the bank of the Danube River, located on the border with Serbia, Prime Tass reported.

Average daily sales of oil products at EUROPA-MIL's refueling stations amount to 11 tons.

Oil products will be delivered to the refueling stations, purchased by LUKoil, from the company's refineries in Bulgaria and Romania.

On Tuesday, LUKoil Vice-President Vladimir Nekrasov said the company would invest $25 billion in the development of the network of its refueling stations and oil refineries in the next decade.

In addition to that, LUKoil plans to increase the number of its refueling stations in Russia and abroad to 2,600 in the next decade, Nekrasov said, adding their current number amounts to 2,000.

Russia's gasoline prices rise

Retail gasoline prices in Russia went up by 0.8 percent on average across the country during the week from April 14 to 20, according to local media.

In the period under review, the average prices of the low-octane gasoline brands A-76, AI-80 and other similar brands grew by 0.9 percent; average prices of the most popular brands AI-92, AI-93 and other standard brands increased by 0.8 percent.

In the period under review, retail prices of AI-95 and premium brands went up by 0.7 percent on average. Prices of diesel fuel grew by 1.0 percent on average across the country.

The Federal State Statistics Service registered an increase in retail gasoline prices in 48 administrative centers of Russia. The highest growth of the index was reported from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (6.8 percent).

In the week from April 14 to 20, Moscow's average gasoline prices increased by 1.2 percent and St. Petersburg's average gasoline prices went up by 1.1 percent.

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Closing oil prices, May 1, 3 p.m. London

Brent crude oil: $110.75

West Texas Intermediate crude oil: $112.74

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