The Director General of PJSC "Rosseti" Oleg Budargin on June 2, 2017 participated in the round table discussion organized by the Company in the framework of St. Petersburg International Economic Forum devoted to the problems of energy integration. During the discussion, the international experts of the energy sector discussed the possibility of creating a unified grid infrastructure on different continents and development patterns of electric power markets.

According to statistics, about a billion people on Earth have no access to electricity. The use of renewable energy sources and combining efforts of different countries on a common energy platform become therefore particularly relevant.

Oleg Budargin drew the attention of roundtable participants to the fact that under forecasts of experts, the world power consumption will increase by 30% by 2025, and 75% of this growth will occur in countries of the Asia-Pacific Region. In this respect, the efforts taken by Russia, Japan, Korea and China to create an Asian power supply ring network are of particular importance. Soon Mongolia may join these 4 countries-project participants – related negotiations have already begun. "I hope that in a year we will have something to say in the part of practical implementation of the project," - said Oleg Budargin.

According to the President of European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization Bernhard Thies, one of the components for a successful energy integration is promoting a reasonable consumption of electricity worldwide. "An average European spends today 3 euros on one cup of coffee, and pays 1 euro per day for electricity, and it is very difficult for him to understand that the consumption of electricity should be cost-conscious. We need to reduce consumption of electricity due to the high technology and the "Internet of things". And the propaganda of a reasonable consumption of electricity needs to be addressed at all levels: in every town and in every village," - he said.

Director General of the company TERNA Luigi Ferraris told about the obstacles to energy integration in Europe. "For example, in order to construct high voltage lines needed to transmit energy over long distances, the European companies have to negotiate with all owners of land on which the line supports are to be installed. And the population density in Europe is very high. To speed up the energy integration and to eliminate obstacles on its way the political will and appropriate decisions are needed," - he said.

The Secretary-General, Chief Executive Officer of World Energy Council Christoph Frei noted that in the process of energy integration particular attention should be given to the issue of mass migration of citizens of different countries from small cities to megacities. "We must be prepared for population growth in major cities – we need to build and develop energy infrastructure for it," - he said.

Oleg Budargin, Director General of PJSC Rosseti, noted that the consumer is the main ally and an appraiser of energy companies in the matter of integration. "Smart Grids are not smart by themselves. To create them you need a smart consumer and intelligent generation. Generation has already begun to move in this direction, and we still need to work with the consumer. The consumer must vote for integration, realizing that it means the quality of life and the future of our planet," - he stressed.