Saint-Petersburg, 2 April. Yesterday, a meeting between Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of RAO "UES of Russia" Vyacheslav Sinyugin and Presidential Plenipotentiary in the North-West Federal District Valentina Matviyenko took place in St.-Petersburg.

The parties discussed the arrangements for interaction between RAO "UES of Russia" and the Presidential Plenipotentiary' Secretariat in the process of development and implementation of energy systems restructuring projects in the North-West of Russia.

An agreement was reached at the meeting to implement a pilot project in one of the regions of the North-West Federal District seeking to liquidate cross-subsidization between different groups of electricity consumers. The specific region will be jointly determined by the parties in the near future.

After the legislative package on energy reform has been signed, the reform has entered a practical phase and became a matter of special social significance, said the Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of RAO "UES of Russia". Vyacheslav Sinyugin assured that maximum account would be taken of the interests of people living in the area in the course of the energy sector reform, and that RAO "UES of Russia" management would do their best to minimize the social risks. Sinyugin also noted that the experience Valentina Matviyenko had in dealing with social issues was indispensable in that context, and the management of RAO "UES of Russia" hoped for systemic interaction with the Presidential Plenipotentiary in that respect.

As a result of the meeting, a decision was taken to hold a joint conference of heads of regional administrations in the North-West Federal District and RAO "UES of Russia" representatives in the offices of the Presidential Plenipotentiary. The conference will discuss in detail the mechanism for reforming the regional energy companies and review the preparations for the autumn-winter peak load of 2003/2004.