The grand opening of the International RUGRIDS-ELECTRO Electric Power Forum, organized by JSC Rosseti and Expocentre, took place on October 15, 2014 in Moscow. The Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the State Duma of the Russian Federation, and the Ministry of Energy support the forum.

Among the key objectives of the event is an opportunity to showcase the innovative potential of the industry, to provide opportunities for the exchange of experience and advanced technologies to Russian and foreign companies in the electric power sector, to organize a trilateral dialogue between Rosseti as the customer, equipment manufacturers, and representatives of applied and fundamental research.

The ceremony was attended by the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy, Ivan Grachev, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy, Yury Lipatov, Head of the Federal Tariff Service, Sergey Novikov, General Director of JSC Roseti, Oleg Budargin, General Director of Expocentre, Sergey Bednov and Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Strashko.

In his opening speech, Oleg Budargin noted that Rosseti cordially and sincerely welcomes their colleagues and partners to the forum. "This year, we have expanded the boundaries of the discussion. Rugrids-Electro's business program includes more than 50 events, with about 200 scheduled speakers from Russia and abroad. We hope that the comfortable atmosphere of the Forum will contribute to the effective work of the participants," said the CEO of Rosseti to the forum participants.

In addition, Oleg Budargin stressed: "Rosseti Group companies had a successful year, and dealt effectively with all the tasks posed to the electric grid complex by the leadership of our country. Our main directions remain - stability, internal and external integration, and increasing our responsibility to our consumers."

The President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Fortov, welcomed the participants and guests of the forum on behalf of the Academy of Sciences and Russian scientists. During his speech, he focused on the fact that energy and science are closely related - fundamental science is the basis of power engineering, and power engineering has done a lot for the development of fundamental science. The challenges posed by the industry to scientists contributed to the development of physics and led to the emergence of semiconductor technology, without which it is impossible to imagine modern energy. In addition, Vladimir Fortov noted, it is necessary to take into consideration that the forum is being held in a time of political uncertainty - "resources are limited and the optimum way to support the electric power industry to best support the sustainable growth of the country's economy needs to be found."

During the Rugrids-Electro forum, discussions will cover a wide range of issues concerning import-substitution, innovative grid development (power equipment, automation, energy storage, construction and engineering, electrical and fire safety), as well as investment and financing, education, and science.

The Rugrids-Electro forum showcases more than 40 exhibitors, who present their achievements in a space of more than two thousand square meters. Among them are such companies as - ALSTOM GRID, Siemens, ABB, HYOSUNG CORPORATION, High Voltage Transformers, GlobalElektroServis, Energocontract, Izolyator Plant, ZETO, Interelektrokomplekt, Mikronika, NIPOM, RTC-Electro-M, RTSoft, Power Machines - Toshiba, Smart Energo, Holding "Union", Tavrida Electric, Tatkabel, EZOIS, Electroshield Samara Group, IR Energostroy-M, Unitel Engineering, and others. It is anticipated that about 5,000 people will attend the exhibition.