Pskov Oblast Governor Andrey Turchak and First Deputy General Director of ROSSETI Roman Berdnikov met on July 30, 2014, to discuss developing the region's electricity sector.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Governor of Pskov Oblast Sergei Pernikov and several managers from electricity network companies within the ROSSETI Group - General Director of the North-Western Interregional Distribution Grid Company Aleksandr Letyagin and director of the PskovEnergo branch Konstantin Mikhailov.

Roman Berdnikov discussed the preliminary results of the ongoing preparations for the increased loads expected during the 2014-2015 fall-winter season. It was emphasized that the Pskov region is located within a zone of heightened attention for the energy industry due to the challenging weather conditions of the north-western regions and due to its special importance in ensuring the reliability of transit between the north-west and the centre.

"This year, PskovEnergo will need to clear and enlarge almost 6,000 hectares of power line corridors, which is more than twice as much as last year," noted Roman Berdnikov.

On the topic of improving the reliability of power supplies within the region, the parties agreed to prepare a program for comprehensively developing the electricity sector. Berdnikov believes that this program should primarily focus on long-term plans for the development of the power grid infrastructure, synchronising with the territorial planning of the Pskov Oblast, ensuring sufficient supply for the mid-term demand of electricity, preventing local deficits in power and limiting the transfer capacity of the electrical networks while also improving the reliability and the quality of the supplied electricity.

Discussions also touched on the issue of implementing infrastructural projects within the electrical energy industry aimed at fostering the region's socio-economic development.

The First Deputy Head of ROSSETI and the region's head particularly discussed the technical connection of the Moglino Industrial Park to the power networks. The technopark will foster development of new sectors in the region, will create modern high-tech products while also creating new jobs. At the meeting, parties reached an agreement on the terms, the order and the procedure of connecting the 110 kV Moglino substation as well as constructing 110 kV power lines.

The parties also discussed constructing the necessary facilities for the power network infrastructure to supply power to the land plots being allocated to families with many children in the Pskov and Velikoluksky regions while also upgrading the power supply system for the residential part of the Kryuki Village in the Ostrovskiy region.

Roman Berdnikov also held an operational meeting with the management of the North-Western Interregional Distribution Grid Company and PskovEnergo to discuss preparing the oblast's power grids for winter.

The PskovEnergo branch has presently over-fulfilled its half-year plan to repair 0.4-10 kV overhead power lines (105.3%), 35-110 kV substations (133.3%), 35-110 kV circuit-breakers (113.3%) and work continues to repair 35-110 kV high-voltage power lines.

The PskovEnergo repair program for 2014 includes maintenance operations on over 500km of 35-110 kV power lines and around 2,300km of 0.4-10 kV lines, 26 35-110 kV substations and 840 6-35/0.4 kV transformers.