Moscow, 19 August 2006. Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a working meeting with Chairman of the Management Board of RAO "UES of Russia" Anatoly Chubais in the Bocharov Ruchey Residence in Sochi, where they discussed the current state and development prospects of the Russian electricity industry. In particular, the Russian President and RAO UES Chairman dwelled upon the issue of ensuring reliable and uninterrupted power supply to residential and industrial consumers amid growing energy use and changing consumption structure.

Besides, Vladimir Putin and Anatoly Chubais discussed the key points of the electricity sector's investment programme for 2006-2010, as well as the mechanisms for its implementation. According to this document, the new energy sector entities, WGCs and TGCs, will raise significant private investment through additional share issues to finance thermal generation development projects . Additional sources of funds will include tariff revenues, connection fees, and budgetary allocations. The total amount of funds needed to implement the Investment Programme is in excess RUB2.1 trillion.

The official information on the meeting has been published on the website of the Russian President.