Hungarian energy company Emfesz said Monday it is buying Ukrainian peer Ukrnadraservice

Emfesz said Ukraine's competition authority has already approved the purchase. Emfesz will start exploration and tests at three of Ukrnadraservice's gas fields. The fields are thought to contain a combined 10bn cubic metres of gas, though a more precise figure will become known after the tests.

Emfesz controls about 70pc of Hungary's partially deregulated gas market, and it entered the deregulated electricity market in 2007 too.

Emfesz said earlier it plans to build a EUR 1.5bn combined-cycle power plant in Eastern Hungary. It would use gas from Central Asia to generate 2,400MW of electricity, making it Hungary's biggest non-nuclear power plant. The first two 400MW blocks are expected to go online in 2011 and the last block will go online in 2013.

Emfesz had revenue of more than HUF 190 bn in 2007, up from HUF 144.6bn in 2006.

Emfesz is a unit of Group DF (GDF) holding owned by Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Firtash.