We have witnessed how the electricity reform created the conditions needed to attract private investment and turn Russia's electricity industry into a rapidly developing sector using cutting-edge technologies.

The electricity industry is also creating effective demand and is becoming a driver for growth in such sectors as machine-building and construction industry, as well as science and education.

My participation in implementing the restructuring of RAO "UES of Russia" gave me invaluable practical experience in such technologically complex and socially important sector of the national economy. Besides that, I had a chance to get to know and communicate with most interesting people – chief executives of the regional energos, power plants, power grid and dispatching facilities, research and engineering staff who have long track record in the sector, and with young reformers who demonstrated great intellectual potential and talent for organization.

Before joining RAO "UES of Russia", I had a chance of seeing the activities of energy companies from outside and form an opinion of the goals and gist of the reform in terms of its influence on life in different regions of Russia. Today, I can say with confidence that the reform in the electricity sector and the new logic of sector development launched a number of absolutely new endeavours in the customer services area. Development and introduction of new customer service standards, dissemination of the best practices of creating local service centers, establishment of local Customer Relations Groups — all these demonstrated a shift towards customers and balancing the interests of energy companies and their customers and were dictated by the requirements of working in a new competitive environment.

Already in the process of reform, RAO "UES of Russia" implemented a number of very significant and large-scale international projects. Some projects have already been completed, others are underway. Among them is the construction of the Sangtuda HPP, the commencement of electricity exports to China, implementation of a project to synchronize the power systems of the Western Europe and Russia. RAO "UES of Russia" has been actively participating in the work of the CIS Electric Power Council and has made a great deal to turn the power transmission lines linking Russia and the neighbouring countries and make them closer.

The reform in the electricity industry was vitally important not only for the sector experiencing an acute lack of investment resources, but also for the Russia's economy as a whole. Industrial growth, implementation of top-priority national projects and improvement of the living standard of people are all impossible without strengthening and development of the electricity industry and meeting the rapidly growing demand for electricity.

If we assess the reform in terms of organization of the dispatching system, it made the system follow a clearly formulated economic algorithm of taking and implementing decisions. The sector has acquired an administrative structure and organizational unity which helps manage the energy systems more efficiently, ensure their reliability and development in a market environment.

The electricity sector reform gave our country the most important thing, that is the investments needed to construct the new energy facilities it needs.

Now the rapid development of the Russian economy is supported by megawatts of new capacity. Historians still have to assess the significance of the major transformation in the sector that we have carried out. But I am sure that the future generations will not be ashamed of us.

Thanks to the reform, energy companies have learnt to work in a new competitive environment, and the industry has become more attractive for investors. You do not have to convince anybody that investments in the Russian energy sector are profitable. Obviously, this is also one of the most important results of the reform.

For me, the reform carried out in the electricity industry means ten years of hard, but very dynamic and interesting, work in a highly professional team. We have managed to accomplish something that many people did not believe was doable at all. But we still have a lot to do. And I will sigh with relief only when Anatoly Chubais puts a padlock on the door of the offices of RAO "UES of Russia".

I started working in the energy industry back in 1993, at the CHPP-15 of "Lenenergo", which was neither the worst, nor the oldest of Saint Petersburg's power plants. It seemed to me at that time that if we did not start replacing or building new equipment, the plant would not last more than three or five years. I felt that the sector was in need of drastic change and believed that they such change would start soon. That was the reason why I did not leave the energy sector.

The real change which made it possible to build new power facilities has come only now as a result of the reform at RAO "UES of Russia", liberalization of the electricity market, adoption of the large-scale RAO UES investment programme and the Master Plan for the Location of Energy Facilities until 2020.

I am happy that some part of the work to achieve these results was done by me. I am also happy that the Russian energy sector's revival has started and I am not old yet. This means that the bulk of work to build new power plants and transmission lines is still ahead and I will be able to take part in it.

The reform carried out in the electricity sector is a timely step. Now this step can only be appreciated by professionals working in the sector. Politicians will be able to assess it later on.

Back in the 1990s, when I was Director General of OAO "Chelyabenergo", the company had a lot of problems because of customer non-payments. That is why I think that the first and the key success achieved by RAO "UES of Russia" was the recognition by customers of the fact that electricity and heat are commodities, and one has to pay for them. The next step was the creation of financial and economic culture. As a result, the regional energy companies were able to achieve financial and technological stability.

My team experienced a lot of difficulties implementing our tasks. I am happy that we have been able to cope with most of them. The potential of the research and development complex has been reorganized and is now in demand, generation companies and power grids are implementing a uniform technical policy. Despite the tremendous problems, production of the first Russian-made off-the-shelf gas turbine was finally launched after nearly ten years of work, the project in which many energy sector specialists took an active part.

My life was not at all dull before I came RAO "UES of Russia", but it has never been so exciting. When I came to RAO "UES of Russia", I had a feeling, quite adequate I am sure, that I was taking part in a really great reform. The reform at RAO "UES of Russia" is the most important or, at least, the most positive event in the Russian economy, and maybe, in the whole country over the past years. A country with a private, competitive generation sector, part of which is owned by foreigners, is quite a different country. It is more stable, more open, and more reasonably organized. Surely, it is much more like the country I would like our country to be.

We have gone a long way from almost universal rejection of the very idea of the reform – by deputies, the Government and Presidential Administration, governors, academics, and even energy industry specialists themselves — to equally unanimous support. We have achieved this change from "minus" to "plus" not by manipulations or bribes, — we did not bribe deputies, though we have been accused of doing so! — but by persuasion and appeal to consider the country's interests. My colleagues and I, who liaised with Duma deputies and other authorities, had a confidence that we were working for the country's benefit, for its future. This confidence helped us overcome suspicion and hostility. People who did not doubt the destructive character of our plans, our evil intent and self-interest, have become our allies. The reform of RAO "UES of Russia" is our moral victory as well.

The reform in the electricity sector is one of transformation which shaped today's image of this country. For me as a financial officer, the peculiarity of the RAO UES reorganization lies in the fact that the newly-established companies comprising the intended sector structure promptly began to be actively involved in cooperation with Russia's financial system. We have managed to prove that work on the financial market is not a mere "exotic decoration", a "frill" on the production system, but is a most important instrument for the sector development. Without it, we will not be able to raise the amount of investments the country needs. This is the way it is done all over the world, and we have also learnt to work that way.

For me and, I think, for all financial specialists at RAO "UES of Russia", the years from 2006 to 2008 will be remembered as a period of creative work. We faced a major challenge. We had to mobilize and use our professional potential, creative abilities, persistence and abilities to learn in the process of work.

I am sure that we have managed to meet all the challenges with dignity. We have de facto created a corporate and financial culture which is new to Russian companies. I am also sure that, for young participants of the reform process, the participation in the reform at RAO "UES of Russia" will provide a solid foundation for addressing new challenges.

Being a specialist with thirty years of experience in the electric power sector, I can say that it's only the reform that created the conditions for a large-scale development of investment processes in the sector. It is not accidental that people have begun to call the RAO UES investment programme "GOELRO-2".

But it is not enough to launch the construction of new energy facilities. One needs to ensure that they are properly managed. The creation of the intended industry structure predetermined the necessity of a large-scale introduction of the world's best management practices which proved to be efficient. We have demonstrated this by implementing quality management systems in the RAO UES energy companies in accordance with ISO 9000.

I am sure that the energy companies' managers will not rest on the things they have achieved and will continue to improve the management processes. In the near future, they will move to a new level and introduce integrated management systems. The reform has created incentives and conditions for ongoing improvement in performance and the sector's experts are surely to benefit from them.

For me, it is important that the reform made people rethink their attitude to the electricity sector. In the Soviet era, medals were given for the construction of power plants, while power grids always remained in the background and were financed with whatever money was left.

The problems of peak load areas, acute shortage of capacity for connection to the power grids made us aware that the Unified National Energy Grid and the distribution facilities form the backbone of the Russia's energy system. I view this turn towards the development of power grids as one of the key achievements of the reform. In view of the latest updates, in the foreseeable future, investments in the power grids will exceed investments in generation facilities.

The trend to further develop the positive changes in the electricity industry set by RAO "UES of Russia" will continue after the Company ceases to exist. For instance, in the next few years, a completely new regulatory environment will be created in the power grid business. The new ability of the electricity industry to be flexible and to change promptly and efficiently in order to meet new economic requirements is also the result of the reform in RAO "UES of Russia".

I can remember very well the time when only a few people in Russia believed in the possibility of the electricity reform. At that time the idea that the energy industry will start to operate on a market basis and that investments may be attracted in the sector seemed kind of a fantasy. We had to overcome a colossal resistance at every level. Not so much time has passed since then, and we have managed — while ensuring uninterrupted electricity and heat supply and without going through crises — to reform this large sector which has an effect on the whole country's vitality. New companies have been established and are now operating, the electricity market is in place, construction projects are being implemented and the existing capacities are being modernized. The reform has changed not only the Russian electricity industry, and gave it a strong impetus for development. Today, during my business trips to different regions of Russia, I see the changes in the society and regional elite's attitude to the reform.

Now it is impossible to imagine the energy industry otherwise than a market-based industry. Businesses are investing more and more actively in the competitive industry segments, and the Government is increasingly aware that by focusing on the development of infrastructure companies it will be able to ensure stable operation of the UES of Russia for many years to come.

It was only in 2007 that I began to believe that the reform in the electricity industry had reached its goals, when I saw that the major industry players were genuinely interested in purchasing energy assets.

Yes, all years I have worked for RAO "UES of Russia" I have tried to perform my duties honestly, although I was not an adept of the reform and was sceptical about any system changes. However, I saw my colleagues' enthusiasm, and it made me keep pace with them. As a result, I beat my own record of staying with one company.

These years have been interesting from a professional point of view. Who knows, probably, the reform would be different and more difficult to implement if we, lawyers, were not professionally prepared and determined to implement the tasks we had to face. Or, say, if the issues relating to OAO "Bashkirenergo", OAO "Irkutskenergo", and OAO "Tatenergo" were not settled in due time. And personally, I can say that over the thirty years of my career in other companies, never and nowhere have I seen such team spirit which was created in RAO "UES of Russia". This factor contributed a lot to the success of our endeavours.

I think that no reform in any of Russia's sectors has aroused such heated debates. Especially during the first phase, when the ideas of reform encountered especially fierce resistance.

"It is impossible to liberalize Russia's electricity industry", "the market will adversely affect the reliability of electricity supply", "no investor will invest a rouble in the sector", "no investments are needed because the sector has had a capacity reserve since the Soviet era" — this is by far an incomplete list of our opponents' arguments.

For the sake of justice, we ought to admit that public criticism of a some of the initially proposed structures for a new liberalized industry, primarily, from minority shareholders, and comments by the government authorities have helped us improve the final structure of the reform and accomplish the key objectives of creating the market and attracting investments.

The reform in the electricity industry is the largest project I have ever been involved in. I believe that I have neither done, nor will ever do, anything equal in terms of scale, significance, number of people involved, and complexity. If a person happens to be involved in one of such projects, generally speaking, it is a great luck.

I was comfortable and happy to work in a company which exists to provide electricity and heat to homes. And these are not merely words. Only a large and friendly team was capable of bringing to logical completion such a tremendous project as the sector reform.

For Russia, our reform is a project which resulted in the creation of, I would dare to say, the world's largest organized market for electricity and capacity and the restructuring of the holding company, which was of a similar scale. This fundamental reorganization of the Russian electricity sector has predetermined its evolution for dozens of years to come. Today, one might say that we have created a very solid basis which can be used to develop market relations, investment processes and corporate aspects of the management system in the electricity industry.

I believe that the reform has made it possible for Russia to avoid electricity shortages which it was likely to face within the next 10 to 15 years. The threat was real and electricity deficit is much more dangerous than high electricity prices.

For the electricity sector the reform meant a fundamental change in the organization of its work in all segments — generation, transmission, and retailing of electricity and heat. We have just started transition from a monopoly control to customer-centric companies, I think we will see the results in three or four years.

The most important achievement was the fact that the reform attracted new private investors in the generation sector. Among them are the world's major energy companies. This means massive private investments in the sector, a thing which no one would believe just five years ago!

For me personally, the reform means the seven years of hard work to carry out functional unbundling of the regional energos, create independent energy retailers, TGCs and WGCs, and then manage these companies, prepare their investment programmes, arrange for additional share offerings, and start the construction of new generation capacity. This is the most large-scale, complex, and exciting management experience in my life!