Slovakia's SPP to launch country's 1st gas auction

* SPP announces Slovakia's first gas auction

* Expects foreign, domestic bidders

PRAGUE, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Slovakia's dominant gas firm SPP has arranged the country's first auction of natural gas at which it plans to sell supplies for 2011 and potentially the following two years, it said on Wednesday.

The successful bidder will offer the best price per 1 MWh of gas during the auction, which is to be held between August 20 to September 8, SPP said.

"We are expecting interest in this form of gas sale primarily from the side of large industrial customers, as well as from the side of gas traders...," SPP Gas and Trade Division Director Dusan Randuska said in a statement.

SPP, which operates a pipeline carrying around 70 percent of Europe's consumption of Russian natural gas, said it expects both Slovak and foreign businesses to take part in the auction and will announce the successful bidder on September 9th.

Participants may bid for gas supplies for 2011 and choose either fixed or flexible supply or a combination of the two, SPP said.

France's GDF Suez (GSZ.PA) and Germany's E.ON (EONGn.DE) operate SPP through a joint 49 percent stake that carries management rights. The Slovak government holds the remaining 51 percent. (Reporting by Michael Kahn, Editing by Alison Birrane)