ROSSETI's General Director Oleg Budargin travelled to Pyatigorsk with an official visit to meet with the heads of the North Caucasian Interregional Distribution Grid Company to examine the progress of the comprehensive anti-crisis plan aimed at improving the company's operational efficiency.

In accordance with the Northern Caucasian subsidiary's work over the first half of 2014, Oleg Budargin gave instructions to increase the speed of systematic improvements within the company aimed primarily at reducing costs.

The management at the North Caucasian Interregional Distribution Grid Company reported that the comprehensive anti-crisis plan had been prepared and consists of 70 different measures with expected savings of 24.7 billion roubles.

The meeting also touched on the issue of consolidating the power grid assets in regions where the North Caucasian Interregional Distribution Grid Company operates and preparing the company for the 2014-2015 fall-winter season.

In summarising the discussion, Oleg Budargin devoted special attention to the topic of supporting domestic companies in the food industry and agricultural producers. The head of ROSSETI noted, "This is especially important for the North Caucasus as it is one of the main Russian bread baskets."

Oleg Budargin instructed for the members to sign agreements with the administrations of Russian constituent territories and agricultural enterprises to support domestic producers as soon as possible.

These agreements must include a number of measures like simplifying the procedure and minimizing the cost for technological connection for companies within the industry, offering instalment plans, upholding pricing decisions as well as synchronising the plans made by various Russian constituent territories to create industrial parks for the food industry in accordance with the planned locations of the "open" main substations.