JSC RusHydro (ticker symbol: HYDR; MICEX, RTS and LSE) announces that eighteen branches of the Company and three of its subsidiary and dependent companies have  completed the check for work readiness for the 2009 – 2010  autumn and winter period. The Commission for the Verification of the Readiness for  Winter carried out work at the following sites:  the Bureyskaya HPP, the Nizhegorodskaya HPP, the Volzhskaya HPP, the Zhigulevskaya HPP, the Novosibirskaya HPP, the Zeyskaya HPP, the Saratovskaya HPP, the Kamskaya HPP, the Votkinskaya HPP, the Irgnayskaya HPP, the Cheboksarskaya HPP, the Zagorskaya PSHPP, the Cascade of the Kubanskiye HPPs, the Cascade of the Verkhnevolzhskiye HPPs, in the Karachaevo-Cherkessian branch, in the North Ossetian branch, in the Kabardino-Balkarian branch and in the Dagestan branch, as well as  at JSC “Kolymaenergo,” JSC “Geoterm” and JSC “Zaramagskiye HPPs.”  

During the checks, the technical condition of hydro-units was examined. Diagnostics were also conducted on equipment that will be used during the peak load autumn and winter periods. The quality and completeness of personnel readiness for the autumn and winter period was also evaluated.

The Commission for the Verification of the Readiness for Work in the autumn and winter periods  was directed by the heads of the structural divisions of RusHydro’s “Production” business unit,  as well as by a  member of the Management  Board and by the Company’s head of the “Engineering” business unit, Rasim Khaziakhmetov. The Commission also included representatives from the inter-regional directorates of the Russian Ministry of Energy, the territorial directorates of the Russian Federal Environmental Industrial and Nuclear Supervisory  Service and  the regional dispatching directorates of JSC “System Operator of the Unified Energy System,” as well as directors of the HPPs.

During the checks (which were conducted from September 21st, 2009 to October 30th, 2009), the Commission determined that all the above-indicated companies fulfilled both  main and additional conditions of work readiness for the 2009 – 2010 autumn and winter period  and granted all indicated objects Certificates of Readiness.

At present, an intensive examination is being conducted at RusHydro’s “P.S. Neporozhniy Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP” to assess its readiness for work during the 2009 – 2010 autumn and winter period.  Due to the repair and rehabilitation operations that are being carried out at the site, winter preparation for the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is being performed in accordance with a separate plan. The measures connected with obtaining a Certificate of Readiness for the autumn and winter period for this HPP will be conducted according to separate regulations and will be performed until mid-November. Commission members performing this examination include:  representatives from RusHydro, the Yenisei directorate  of the Russian Federal Environmental Industrial and Nuclear Supervisory  Service and the headquarters of the Russian Emergency Ministry in the Khakassia Republic, as well as  specialists from  JSC “System Operator of the Unified Energy System” from the Siberian Inter-regional Dispatching Office.

The conclusive stage of RusHydro’s work readiness examinations for the autumn and winter period will be the examination carried out by a Commission appointed by a decree of the Russian Ministry of Energy.

The most important principles for using RusHydro’s hydro-energy objects are providing for their technical and system reliability. The Company follows these principles at all stages of the HPP assets’ life-cycle. This is confirmed by state supervisory  authorities while performing asessment on  project documentation, issuing licenses for putting assets into operation, declaring the safety of hydro-technical objects and obtaining licenses for the usage of potentially hazardous industrial objects.  

RusHydro believes that compromises in the area of ensuring equipment reliability and the safety of hydro-technical constructions are unacceptable. Therefore, measures aimed at maximizing the  reliability and safety of existing assets with  increasing  effectiveness due to decreased risks are of first-rate importance to the Company, regardless of the market situation.