Moscow. 5 October 2004. In the first nine months of 2004, the power plants of RAO "UES of Russia" increased generation of electricity by 2.5% year-on-year to 469.6 billion kWh from 458.2 billion kWh.

Throughout Russia, electricity consumption over the first nine months of 2004 totalled 654.6 billion kWh, an increase of 2.2% on the corresponding period of 2003. This means that the increased energy consumption in the country was primarily ensured by the entities of RAO "UES of Russia".

In January to September 2004, there was a considerable– 15.4%– year-on-year increase in generation at the hydroelectric power plants of RAO "UES of Russia". During the period, the Holding Company's HPPs produced 99.8 billion kWh of electricity, compared to 86.5 billion kWh in the first nine months of 2003. During the period, the thermal power plants of RAO "UES of Russia" generated 369.8 billion kWh of electricity, which is nearly the same as in the same period of 2003.

The above changes in the output of RAO UES enterprises were due to the fact that water inflow on the rivers in Siberia, Far East, North Caucasia, Volga-Kama river basin in H1 2004 was generally higher than the long-term average. This resulted in an increased load of the Holding Company's hydroelectric plants and lower generation targets for some thermal power plants of RAO "UES of Russia".

Besides, the hydro resources accumulated in reservoirs of the hydroelectric plants of RAO "UES of Russia" made it possible to maintain the amount of electricity generated by HPPs unchanged despite the lower water inflow in Siberian rivers in Q1 2004. As a result, in September 2004, the Holding Company's HPPs generated 10.3 billion kWh, which is comparable to the September 2003 results. The Company's thermal power plants increased their production of electricity by 2.8% to 37.2 billion kWh from 36.2 billion kWh in September last year.

The power plants of RAO "UES of Russia" generated 47.5 billion kWh in September 2004, up 2% in year-on-year terms. Last month, the electricity consumption throughout Russia totalled 67 billion kWh, which represents an increase of 1.8% compared to the corresponding period of 2003.