Moscow, 23 December 2004. An all-Russian meeting "Use of e-commerce systems as a strategy for the development of a market for products, services, and technologies in the electricity industry" was held in the offices of RAO "UES of Russia". The meeting was attended by heads of the Business Units, generation companies, regional energos, AO-power plants, and energy repair companies of RAO "UES of Russia" Holding Company.

The meeting participants confirmed that the use by the Holding Company's enterprises of b2b systems in their procurement activities makes it possible to reduce the effort required to organize procurement, cut costs, and make the spending of funds more transparent.

The meeting also worked out a detailed action plan envisaging further development of the e-commerce system in accordance with the Procurement Standards being developed by the Company, as well as holding of seminars and workshops for their users and encouraging new users to join the system.

Efficiency of the e-commerce system and the significant economic benefits achieved through it served as a basis for the resolutions taken by the Management Board of RAO "UES of Russia" to further develop the market for products, services, and technologies in the electricity industry using e-trading systems. In 2005, RAO "UES of Russia" enterprises plan to make at least 50% of their competitive procurement using e-commerce.