Moscow, 30 August 2005. Today, the Chairman of the Management Board of RAO "UES of Russia" Anatoly Chubais and the Head of Volgograd Region Administration Nikolay Maksyuta have signed an Agreement on measures to ensure stable operation and development of the energy sector in the Volgograd Region.

RAO "UES of Russia" have confirmed that its subsidiaries established as a result of restructuring of OAO "Volgogradenergo" were responsible for the facilities maintenance, retrofitting, upgrade, and safe operation of the energy facilities located in the Volgograd Region that are owned by these subsidiaries. The Agreement also states that RAO "UES of Russia" and the Volgograd Region Administration will consider the issue of transferring the ownership of the municipal and ownerless electricity networks to the respective Interregional Transmission Companies (ITCs), Interregional Distribution Companies (IDCs), and Regional Distribution Companies (RDCs).

Under the Agreement, the parties will team up to develop a Programme of joint action of the enterprises of RAO "UES of Russia" and the Volgograd Region Administration to ensure reliable operation and long-term development of the energy supply system in the Volgograd Region. The regional administration will render assistance to the energy companies in drafting long-term development plans for the Volgograd energy system, taking into account the information on the increase in the energy consumption in large cities.

The administration will also ensure timely and full payment for the electricity and heat consumed by the budget-financed entities. Specifically, when making up the regional budget, the Volgograd Region Administration will make sufficient allocations for the payment of heat and electricity by the region's consumers which depend on financing from the local government, and control compliance with the relevant items of the regional budget.

Also, the Agreement states that joint efforts should be taken to establish economically justified energy tariffs and develop a regional programme to ensure stepwise elimination of cross-subsidization of various groups of electricity and heat consumers in the region.