General Director of Rosseti, Oleg Budargin, spoke at the plenary session of "Priorities of The Russian Electric Power Industry In The Changed Circumstances", in the framework of the First International Rugrids-Electro Electric Power Forum, which opened today.

The event, moderated by President of the Centre for Energy Developments, Vladimir Knyaginin, was also attended by the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy Ivan Grachev and Yuri Lipatov, respectively, the head of the Federal Tariff Service, Sergey Novikov, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Fortov, and CEO of the Institute of Electric Power Strategy, Vitaly Bushuev.

During the discussion, participants raised a key question regarding Russia's electric grid complex development in today's world - finding a balance between actual issues, the available resources, and the necessary transformations.

The CEO of Rosseti noted that firstly, it is necessary to focus on the development of common parameters and consistent rules for all participants in the electric power market of the country. "Development and implementation of a long-term development program is only possible with mutual long-range rules that everyone adheres to: generation, marketing networks, sales outlets, and consumers," said Oleg Budargin.

Chairman of the Energy Committee of the State Duma, Ivan Grachev, expressed a similar view: "We need a unified approach. Now, the country has a disproportionate number of local grid companies that are not bound by common rules. They should be developed and legally enforced, however revolutionary changes are not needed. That said, Rosseti should retain its dominant role."

Panellists acknowledged the issues around establishing long-term principles for new construction in the industry and technological connection to the power grid. According to Sergey Novikov, precisely through the prism of a solution to this problem, further development of electric power and its transition to "green" operation and "smart grids" should be considered.

The initial step, according to the head of the Federal Tariff Service, would be to move to a widespread reconciliation of development strategies for regions of the Russian Federation and the electric grid complex. "Currently, the investments of many grid companies are almost equal to the amount of annual revenue, although by no means are all new power stations needed right now where they are constructed. This should not be the case, rather, they must correlate with the territorial development plans of the regions," he said.

Yuri Lipatov also drew participants' attention to the fact that there is a whole range of reasons - including cross-subsidies, preferential grid connection, failure of consumers to perform their obligations – that has led to the fact that, from a financial and economic point of view, the electric power industry is experiencing difficulties, and the grid companies are accumulating debts.

“Annually, the Rosseti Group shoulders a loss of about 200 billion roubles due to these problems," said Oleg Budargin.

Special attention was paid to the innovative development of the electric power complex, as well as the interaction of the scientific community and industry, and as a result, the transition to practical steps for import substitution.

According to the participants, Russia has the necessary capacity to meet these challenges. According to the CEO of Rosseti, the company works only on the basis of introducing the latest and most advanced new technologies – there is no question of going back to old ways. And, of course, there is a strong emphasis on cooperation with domestic manufacturers and research institutes."

In summarizing the discussion, Vladimir Knyaginin concluded that to ensure the reliability and efficiency of the electric power industry, a systematic approach is essential and - "it should be present in the entire electric power complex, and in its relations with the government, regulators, and the regions, and also in science," he said.