OREANDA-NEWS. December 12, 2012. Federal Grid Company of Unified Energy System (“Federal Grid” the “Company”, Moscow Exchange, LSE: FEES), the operator and manager of Russia’s unified electricity transmission grid system, announces that a delegation headed by Chairman of the Management Board Oleg Budargin today visited the London Stock Exchange.

The delegation held a working meeting with LSE officials to discuss the experience of international companies listed on the LSE and their investor relations practices.

“Federal Grid Company attaches great importance to its relations with international investors, and is particularly proud of its strong relationship with the London Stock Exchange, where we set new standards for Russian utilities companies with our GDR listing in March 2011,” Oleg Budargin said. “We are working closely with our partners to study international best practices that we can learn from to further improve the investment attractiveness of Federal Grid Company.

The meeting participants also discussed the creation of a unified company for management of Russia’s electricity grids. Commenting on the President of the Russian Federation’s decree about creating JSC "Russian Grids", Mr. Budargin said: “This will have a positive impact on Federal Grid Company. The fact that a unified centre for decision-making and management of electricity network development has been created is much more important than the actual form of the consolidation. We believe that the synchronisation of operational, investment, research and development (R&D) activities of the country’s electricity grids holds a great deal of promise. Creation of the unified grid company will increase efficiency by allowing Federal Grid to focus solely on operational issues, for example. The current lack of synchronisation between Federal Grid Company and MRSK has often led to significant financial costs on both sides. Now there will be a single coordinator that will resolve these issues.

“The creation of a single company will also enable introduction of unified standards in the electric grid sector, make the industry more manageable and make it possible to work efficiently to optimize tariff growth. It is important that these strategic measures will apply to the entire grid complex, which will allow to achieve another important task in the President’s decree – the consolidation of the territorial grid organisations.

“The decision to create a coordinating company and the synchronisation of the electricity grid complex will make energy more accessible and have a positive impact on consumers. It will enable us to eliminate the negative tendencies and problems that were aggravated by electricity reforms.”

The visit to the LSE was the culmination of a roadshow during which Federal Grid Company, in conjunction with its corporate broker Morgan Stanley, held a series of meetings with leading European investment funds, including UBS, Blackrock, Baring Asset Management, Fidelity, Charlemagne Capital, Pioneer Investments, Nomura Asset Management, Renaissance Investment Management, HSBC Global Asset Management, Credit Suisse. At the meetings, Federal Grid presented its financial results under IFRS for the first half of 2012, and also discussed its main areas of operation and strategic priorities.

Federal Grid is committed to broadening its programme of investor relations in line with global best practice, and looks forward to further improving its relationships with investors worldwide. As part of its large-scale investment programme to upgrade Russia’s electricity infrastructure, the Company is expanding the quality of its presence on the capital markets.