RPT-UPDATE 2-Montenegro confirms A2A wins power utility stake

(Repeats Aug 4 story with new Reuters story code)

* Privatisation Council confirms A2A wins EPCG bidding

* Rival bidders PPC, GoldenEnergy mulling an appeal

* A2A to redirect part of profit to additional wages

* A2A to offer 20,000 euros for voluntary redundancies (Adds statement by Greece's PPC legal representative)

PODGORICA, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Montenegro's Privatisation Council confirmed on Tuesday that Italy's A2A had won a tender for a minority stake in Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG), beating a higher bid from Greece's Public Power Corporation (PPC).

The Italian company will get a 18.3 percent stake in the power monopoly for 96 million euros ($138.1 million), or 11,457,357 shares at 8.4 euros per share.

Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Vujica Lazovic told TV Vijesti last Thursday that the government had rejected PPC's bid, which was for 127 million euros, or 11.1 euros per share, as it was "incompatible" with the rules of the tender.

Lazovic said that in PPC's letter to the tender commission, "the Greeks have not said that they would sign all the transaction documents required." [ID:nLU273233]

A senior source familiar with the transaction told Reuters last Wednesday that PPC had written a letter to the tender commission saying they had no special demands, after Montenegro said it had to drop all conditions attached to its bid or lose the tender. [ID:nLT611629]

PPC and its bidding partner, GoldenEnergy, which is a unit of the Greek shipping group Restis, have eight days to lodge an appeal.

PPC's legal representative in Montenegro, Goran Velimirovic, said the managing boards of the two companies would decide in the next few days whether to appeal. "I believe that managing boards will have in mind the fact that their appeal will be considered by the same body which made this questionable decision," Velimirovic told Reuters.

Many of the people who sit on the Privatisation Council are also on the Tender Commission, including Deputy Prime Minister Lazovic who is the chairman of both.

The Privatisation Council said A2A was ready to keep the existing collective agreement and redirect part of the profit to pay additional wages. There was also "an offer of redundancy payments of 20,000 euros ($28,780)" for those who volunteer to leave the company in the first year, it said.

A2A got a seat on EPCG's managing board in June, a month after buying a 15 percent stake with several block trades on the Montenegro bourse from local institutional stakeholders for 122.7 million euros, or 7.1 euros per share.

In June, Italian investors pledged to invest up to 5 billion euros in energy projects and infrastructure in Montenegro, including the construction of a 100-kilometre underwater power cable between the two countries with an initial capacity of 1,000 MW. Montenegro will get a 20-percent share in the cable. ($1=.6949 Euro) (Reporting by Petar Komnenic; writing by Gordana Filipovic; editing by Greg Mahlich, Rupert Winchester and Karen Foster)