Moscow. 19 November 2007. The entities of RAO "UES of Russia" are through with the 2007-2008 winter preparedness inspection.

The check was conducted in accordance with the Regulation on the Assessment of Preparedness of Electricity and Heat Suppliers for Work During the Autumn/Winter Period as approved by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Energy and the rules and regulations of RAO "UES of Russia".

The check was carried out by special commissions comprised of representatives of the Technical Audit and General Inspection Department and the Business Units of RAO "UES of Russia", inspectors of the regional energy technical supervision entities ("Energotekhnadzor"), executives and engineering staff of the energy companies being inspected, representatives of OAO "UES SO-CDA", OAO "UES FGC" and their branches, officials from Russia's Federal Service for Environmental, Technological, and Nuclear Supervision and the Emergencies Ministry of Russia.

The checks were conducted at 1030 energy companies, including the generation and power grid companies, OAO "UES SO-CDA", and energy retail companies.

They demonstrated that the power plants, electricity and heating networks fully met the targets set for equipment repairs and building up fuel stockpiles.

Among the necessary conditions for obtaining a Winter Preparedness Certificate were compliance with the resolutions of the UES of Russia Reliability and Development Headquarters, implementation of the electric sector development plans provided by the Agreements entered into between RAO "UES of Russia" and the regional authorities, preparedness of the power plants and boiler houses to burning a stand-by fuel, execution of long-term contracts to supply the so-called "limit gas" (i.e. gas purchased at regulated prices) for the period 2008-2012.

As a result of the check, Winter Preparedness Certificates were granted to 1029 energy companies of RAO "UES of Russia". The only exception was OAO "Kurgan Generation Company". Despite the fact that its generation equipment is for operation during the coming winter and the company has built up the necessary fuel stockpiles, Kurgan GenCo failed to fully implement the measures provided by the Agreement between RAO UES and the Kurgan Region Government on the implementation of construction and modernization projects at its power facilities located in the Kurgan Region until year 2011.