The agreement on joint efforts for stable development and upgrading of the local distribution grids in the Astrakhan Region was reached during the meeting between the Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Mr. Igor Babushkin, acting Governor of the Astrakhan Region,  with participation of Mr. Pavel Livinskiy, Rosseti's CEO, today, on July 23, 2019.

At the outset, Mr. Pavel Livinskiy  presented the local power grid development plans and introduced Mr. Victor Pisarev, a new Head of Rosseti South  Astrakhan Branch, to Mr. Igor Babushkin, acting Astrakhan Region Governor. "He has been working at the Astrakhan Branch for many years and is tasked with implementing the local power grid development plans. Taking into account his high professionalism and deep knowledge of the regional grid infrastructure, I'm sure that Victor Pisarev will cope with all objectives in the interests of all consumer categories", said Rosseti's CEO.

Long-term tariff regulation of transportation and power distribution companies  became an important discussion topic. "It is a critical issue for our company, on the one hand, as for a socially responsible company that takes care of availability of our services, and on the other, we must be sure that our own investments are sufficient to maintain the proper status of networks and fail-free power supply to consumers in the Astrakhan Region," emphasized Pavel Livinskiy.

The meeting resulted in the agreement to sign a regulatory contract between Rosseti Group and the Astrakhan Region Government.

Special attention was paid to consolidation by the holding of the power grid assets in the region. Rosseti and the Astrakhan Region are going to sign the framework agreement on transfer of the power grids owned by the region and municipalities and no-owner power grids to the federal operator's balance sheet.

In the end, the decision was made that Rosseti South would assist the regional administration in mounting the street lighting system in the center of Astrakhan and in highlighting some architectural sights.