Moscow, 11 May 2004. The Chairman of the Management Board of RAO "UES of Russia" Anatoly Chubais has signed an order on the results of the 2003/2004 autumn-winter period in the Holding's entities. In particular, it is stated that the stable operation of RAO UES enterprises during the 2003/2004 winter peak load was ensured by the complete readiness of the energy equipment, reliable fuel supply and strong financial and economic position of the Company.

The funding of the successful passage of the autumn-winter period was possible thanks to the collection of energy payments in 2003 at a level of 101% of (the figure includes the repayment of the indebtedness of previous years).

Other factors which had a positive influence on the winter passage was the commissioning of turbine generators with an aggregate capacity of 910.6 MW, or 102.9% of the target, and the work done to extend the service life of generating equipment while improving its technical and economic performance in the amount of 105.6% of the target, or 1,273.3 MW.

Thanks to the better organizational management, all scheduled repairs on the generating and network equipment were successfully completed, and the required fuel inventories were accumulated. As a result, all 809 energy companies of RAO "UES of Russia" obtained readiness passports for the autumn/winter period in due time.

Despite the adverse weather conditions in December 2003 – January 2004, the energy companies' staff promptly organized work to handle the emergencies, which helped prevent damage to the heating networks and boiler houses.

Within the framework of preparation for the 2004/2005 autumn-winter peak load, a decision was taken to organize regular fuel supplies to all power plants of RAO "UES of Russia" so as to ensure the required fuel inventories in the amount of 18,008,000 tonnes of coal and 2,763,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil.

This year, it is planned to put into operation 42 turbine generators with the total capacity of 1,258.3 MW, including the third 300-MW hydrogenerator at Bureyskaya HPP and two power generating units at Sochinskaya TPP (79 MW). This will ensure a more reliable energy supply during the 2004/2005 heating season.

In the area of repair of the energy equipment at power plants and heating networks, the Company seeks to reduce the cost and achieve a higher efficiency of repairs. For that purpose, it was decided to complete the restructuring of the energy repair business in 2004. Simultaneously, it is planned to increase the share of contract work in the overall volume of repairs by at least 5%.