Opening the session, Anatoli Chubais, the chairman of the CIS Electricity Council and the chief executive of Russia's Unified Energy Systems (UES) electricity giant, said he was "impressed by the potential and the huge work ahead."
According to Mr Chubais, reform of CIS nations' energy grids is gaining pace. The severest problem currently facing the energy sectors in some of the CIS member states is customers' failure to pay for power supplies. "The energy industry cannot function properly unless consumed electricity is 100 percent paid for. Otherwise, it just won't be able to develop," the CIS Electricity Council Chair pointed out.
The session's agenda includes 12 points concerning the approval of regulations for the commission for coordinated operation of the energy grids in countries of the Former Soviet Union (FSU).
The session participants are also expected to draw up an action plan to ensure synchronized operation of national energy grids, to review last season's performance of the grids, to discuss progress in the preparations for the 2004/2005 heating season, and to examine the current state of Tajikistan's energy industry.
The CIS Electricity Council was set up in keeping with an agreement on coordination of interstate relations in the electricity sector. The presidents of the CIS member nations signed this agreement on February 14, 1992.
The organization's primary task is ensuring steady and reliable electrical power supplies for corporate and individual customers on the basis of the efficient functioning of unified electricity systems.
The Electricity Council's 25th session has brought together officials from Armenia, Azerbaijan, , Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Ukraine.
A symposium on the efficient use of hydro-electric resources is to be held on the session's sidelines June 11.
