OREANDA-NEWS. On 31 July 2008 was announced, that the Trading Division, with its headquarters in Perm, established by IES-Holding within the framework of the company's new business model, has started operations. The Division is headed by IES-Holding Executive Vice President Eduard Smelov, former General Director of OJSC TGC-5.

The Division's main functions comprise load management for the generating facilities included in IES-Holding, power and capacity sales on behalf of IES-Holding's generating companies and purchases for its selling companies, as well as formation and implementation of IES's unified strategy in the Russian electric power and capacity wholesale market. Besides, the Trading Division is responsible for fuel supplies to IES's generation companies, i.e. signing long-term contracts with Gazprom and independent gas suppliers, participation in mid- and short-term gas exchange trading, coal and fuel oil purchases. Its responsibilities also cover the formulation of general principles of operations and interactions with IES-Holding's key clients, which include major industrial holding companies and consumers directly connected to the plants' bus-bars and collectors.

The Division employs over 150 people. It is already operating in the electric power and capacity wholesale market and supplying fuel to TGC-5 and TGC-9, with ТGC-6 and ТGC-7 to be integrated in the system afterwards.

The Trading Division will also be responsible for long- and short-term forecasting of the pricing in the power and gas market. In the future, the Division may provide trading services to other companies, said Eduard Smelov, Division CEO.

A decision to create IES-Holding's new business model was taken in February, 2008. This model encompasses generation (electric power and heat production, heat networks), trading, and retail including electric power, heat and gas retail sales and construction of new generation facilities.