London, 3 April. RAO UES of Russia CEO Anatoly Chubais met with the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Jean Lemierre, to discuss the Russian energy sector reform plan and the EBRD’s strategic participation in the restructuring of the sector.

In the course of the meeting, the parties spoke about the positive relationship formed between RAO UES and the EBRD in recent years, and noted their intent to continue cooperation in a number of strategic fields.

Mr. Lemierre underlined that the EBRD has been considering two key directions for investments into the Russian economy, namely the Russian energy and banking sectors. The EBRD President also voiced support for the RAO UES restructuring program, which received final, signed support from the President of Russia on the first day of April.

Mr. Chubais outlined his vision for the creation of an Investment Guarantee Fund that would support investment in Russia’s energy sector. Mr Lemierre expressed his willingness to explore this concept, and agreed to form a working group to work further with RAO UES on these and other potential projects, such as the second phase of the Zelenchuk hydro power plant.

Mr. Lemierre stressed that supporting the reform of the energy sector in Russia is one of the EBRD’s top priorities.