Moscow, 27 April 2006. The Operational Start-up Headquarters today held a meeting at the site of the Boguchanskaya HPP in Kodinsk, Krasnoyarsk Kray. The meeting was chaired by the Chairman of the RAO UES Management Board Anatoly Chubais. Also present were: Alexander Khloponin, Krasnoyarsk Kray Governor; Vyacheslav Sinyugin, member of the Management Board, RAO "UES of Russia", Chairman of the Management Board, OAO "HydroWGC"; Sergey Dubinin, member of the Management Board, RAO "UES of Russia"; Vyacheslav Voronin, member of the Management Board, RAO "UES of Russia"; and Oleg Deripaska, Chairman of the Board of Directors, OAO "RUSAL".

It was the first joint meeting of the Operational Start-up Headquarters held at the project site of Russia's largest hydropower plant under construction after a decision was taken to resume the construction.

The HQ members discussed the issues relating to the Order of RAO "UES of Russia" to resume work to complete the construction of the Boguchanskaya HPP, considered the project funding schedule for 2006, the power transmission arrangements, and the plant's reservoir development.

It was noted that the construction works at the Boguchanskaya HPP were moving at a high pace. From 1 January 2006 (the date on which the construction was resumed) to 27 April 2006, the building teams placed 13,800 cbm of concrete, excavated 162,700 cbm of soil and rock material, installed 460.5 tonnes of metal structures for hydraulic equipment, and drilled and blasted 167,000 cbm of rock. The workforce at the construction site has increased since the beginning of the year by 995 persons to 2,997, and is expected to reach 4,200 persons by year-end.

In order to achieve the tasks set for 2006, the HQ instructed OAO "HydroWGC" to hold tenders in Q2 2006 to procure hydraulic turbines and generators for the Boguchanskaya HPP.

The project to complete the power plant is being implemented pursuant to the order issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The power plant's installed capacity will be 3,000 MW, with an average annual output of 17.6 billion kWh. The first phase (1,000 MW) is scheduled to go online in 2009. The plant is expected to reach its rated capacity in 2012. The capital expenditure required to implement the project is estimated at USD1.5 billion (excluding the costs needed for reservoir development).

After the Boguchanskaya HPP goes on stream, work can be started to develop the local economy in the Lower Angara region and develop Evenk Autonomous Okrug's rich natural resources—gold, oil, natural gas, and timber. Currently, such development is impossible due to insufficient energy supply in the area and the lack of necessary infrastructure.

The power plant's launch will help address the problem of possible electricity shortages in the IES Siberia and the insufficient development of Siberia's hydro potential, only 20% of which is currently utilized.

Simultaneously with the power plant, an aluminium smelter will be built. The smelter will have a capacity of 597,000 tonnes per annum and is expected to become one of the principal consumers of the plant's electricity. The project to build the hydropower plant and smelter is the largest investment project being implemented not only in the Russian electricity industry, but in the entire national economy.