Moscow, 14 March 2007. Over 1,250 public tenders are held simultaneously in the ?2?-energo, the e-trading system used by the companies of RAO "UES of Russia" in their procurement activities. In 2005-2006, the number of such tenders was not more than 300.

The record high number of public tenders which are the most transparent type of procurement procedures is the result of efforts made by RAO UES management to increase transparency of the Company's procurements. This is especially important, because the annual volume of procurement is in excess of RUB300 billion annually. Moreover, in the next few years, the value of equipment, services and technologies procured is expected to grow significantly. This is due to the large-scale investment programme launched by RAO "UES of Russia"*.

The ?2?-energo system helps to avoid price fixing and ensure fair competition on the market for goods, services, and technologies for the electricity industry.

The B2B-energo's overall trading volume has exceeded RUB68.3 billion. Since the system launch, over 7,782 tenders and auctions have been announced on the e-trading floor, with more than 21,000 bids and offers submitted through the system.

The system has 8,580 participants from 36 countries. Among them are RAO UES entities, power equipment manufacturers, energy equipment installation and R&M businesses, construction and installation entities, R&D institutions of the electric power sector, and foreign integrators which facilitate entry of international power engineering companies into the Russian market.

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