Director General of PJSC "Rosseti", Oleg Budargin, met with the governor of the Astrakhan region, Alexander Zhilkin, during a business visit to Astrakhan, where they evaluated the results of fulfilling the earlier agreement. It was also noted that all its points had been fully completed, and a new five-year cooperation agreement on the development of the region's energy complex was signed.

This document implies the interaction between the energy companies and the regional administration aimed to increase the investment potential of the electrical network complex, simplifying the process of new technology integration and upgrading the network infrastructure.

The head of Rosseti and the governor of the Astrakhan region also discussed the current electricity situation in the region and the prospective projects, including the energy service contracts.

Oleg Budargin noted that the "Rosseti" group had invested more than 2 billion rubles into the regional network in the period from 2014 to 2016, and it is also expected that investments would exceed 1.5 billion rubles in the period between 2017 and 2019.

“Our priority is to meet the demands of customers for uninterrupted, high-quality and affordable electricity” said Budargin and also added that "the agreement signed today will bring together joint efforts of energy companies and the region administration in order to fruitfully implement the necessary package of measures."

The head of "Rosseti" also stated that an affiliated structure of their company, - IDGC of the South, was planning to sign two energy service contracts with the contractors in 2017, and the results of those is expected to be at least 510 million. kwh. for the period  2018-2022.

Oleg Budargin had further noted that the implementation of energy service activities would result in a positive sustainable effect on electricity loss reductions, helping to improve the reliability and quality of electricity supply to the Astrakhan region consumers.

Particular attention was paid to the implementation of the activities required for technological integration with the applicants' networks and the comprehensive socio-economic capacity-building for the region.

Special efforts being made at this moment by the Energy companies are mostly directed to meet on time the needs of the housing building sector of the construction industry, which is being actively developed at the moment, for a high-quality electricity supply.   IDGC of the South has also been addressing the issue of additional free capacity in the areas that have a shortage of those.

Since March 2017 for the convenience of individual entrepreneurs as well as representatives of small and medium-sized businesses of the Astrakhan region, a new option has been opened - to apply for technological integration to the company's electric networks just in the multi-purpose municipal services centres (MFC).

The Governor of the region noted a high interest in strengthening cooperation with the network company to ensure the sustainable socio-economic development of the region. Alexander Zhilkin expressed his confidence that the agreement will allow to implement the important electricity projects on the territory of the region.

"I wish to thank Rosseti, IDGC of the South and “Astrakhanenergo” for their efficient work. We will cooperate as closely as possible on all the directions.  The coordination of activities with such an important partner opens up great prospects for all sides", commented Alexander Zhilkin.