Earlier, AO MOSENERGO switched off 11 out of 33 feeders at this company located near Moscow because of debts that had not been paid in accordance with the restructuring schedule. After Schelkovo Grids transferred the required payments, AO MOSENERGO restored supply on all lines. The next payment is scheduled for the end of August. Schelkovo Grids has already paid 1.8 million rubles.

AO MOSENERGO and Schelkovo Grids signed the agreement on debt restructuring in October 2000. At that time Schelkovo owed the Moscow power company almost 47 million rubles. According to the schedule, the debt had to be paid by December 2002. Only in cases of unheeded deadline violations will AO MOSENERGO take measures against the debtor.

In addition to the debt restructuring agreement, in 2000 AO MOSENERGO also signed an agreement with local authorities, "On the Main Principles of Co-operation between the Administration of Schelkovo District and AO MOSENERGO." This agreement was meant to ensure electricity supply to consumers, who were financed from the budget, and to regulate settlements with these consumers. The agreement expires December 2002. In accordance with the agreement the district administration promised to redeem arrears owed to AO MOSENERGO, worth 6.2 million rubles. Despite these obligations, no payments were made this year under this agreement and Schelkovo still owes AO MOSENERGO 2.4 million rubles.

Meanwhile, the local newspaper Vremya published a number of articles, which indirectly implied that Schelkovo Grids fell hostage to the budget of the district administration and local industrial companies. Schelkovo Grids has two major debtors—RMUP Schelkovskaya Elektrosyet and RMUPP Schelkovsky Vodokanal, either of which may caused difficulties in paying debts to AO MOSENERGO. In the same series of articles, some fears were expressed with respect to the future of Schelkovo Grids. These stemmed from allegations that AO MOSENERGO "took over" and appropriated grid companies at Kolomna, Lukhovitsy, Klin and Naro-Fominsk. Most likely, Vremya was referring to the creation of independent sales companies, which have assumed certain financial functions. These sales companies currently operate at several near-Moscow towns including Zhukovsky, Klin, Lukhovitsy and Naro-Fominsk. Kolomna, however, is not listed among them.

It should be noted that despite the creation of independent sales companies, grid companies retain still their legal independence. They belong to their owners—the local administrations. This system helped to simplify settlements. AO MOSENERGO has assumed the function of collecting payments from consumers and paying grid companies for transmission. The practice proved that such division of powers increases the reliability of power supply. Thus the allegations listed in Vremya are unfounded.