Moscow. 20 January 2006. OAO "Territorial Generation Company No. 9" ("TGC-9") and Fortum Corporation of Finland today signed an agreement to perform technical audits and prepare proposals on measures to increase the efficiency of the power plants comprising TGC-9.

The Agreement was signed pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding signed in October 2005 by RAO "UES of Russia" and ZAO "KES", that are the major shareholders in TGC-9, and Fortum Corp.

Under the Agreement, during 2006, Fortum experts are to assess the state of TGC-9 energy assets located in the Perm Kray and Sverdlovsk Region. In particular, they will analyze various parameters influencing the plants' performance, such as operation and maintenance processes, automation of technological processes, and parameters of the business environment (demand, competition, tariffs), etc.

Upon completion of the audit, Fortum will prepare recommendations designed to improve productivity, reliability and economic performance of the TGC-9 generation facilities. Those recommendations will be used to implement the Company's development strategy aimed at increasing its installed capacity (3,200 MW) by 800-900 MW by 2010, improving reliability of the energy facilities of TGC-9, reduced costs, ensuring long-term competitiveness in a market environment, and capitalization growth.

The Agreement signed today demonstrates Fortum's great interest in the Russian electricity and heat market and its readiness to share advanced international experience in operating energy facilities with Russian energy companies.