OREANDA-NEWS  On 03 October was announced, that at the threshold of winder the Tver Region faced a difficult situation concerning debts to power engineers.

The last resort supplier - JSC Tver Power Sale Company (TPSC) has a debt to Tverenergo, a subsidiary of IDGC of Centre, JSC of above 430m roubles. As a result of the great debt, Tverenergo has serious problems in preparation to the autumn and winter period, performance of the 2008 repair and investment programmes, because the heaviest costs for performance of capital-consuming technical events that are essential for the company's operation in the autumn and winter period take place from August to October. Tverenergo's 2008 investment programme requires 500m roubles, i.e. the debt of the power sale company is 4/5 of the whole planned investments of the grid company. Another important fact is that there are many inhabited areas and socially important facilities in the Tver Region, the power supply lines of which are in an unsatisfactory condition and require not only major repair but also reconstruction and updating. Tverenergo planned to perform this work before the winter.

For a long time IDGC of Centre tried to regulate the situation, that Tver Power Sale Company, in its turn, tries to present as an attempt of a "raider's" invasion, by way of peace negotiations, and not applying to court and competent state regulators.

"Within the whole year we tried to make a productive dialogue with Tver Power Sale Company, but, notwithstanding all our attempts to regulate this problem, all we’ve got now is the debt growth," said Vadim Fyodorov, Deputy General Director of IDGC of Centre, JSC for development and sale of grid services. "We want to see power sale companies as reliable long-term strategic partners that will guarantee a stable work of the grid complex. We cannot risk the power safety of the region, and the consumers should not become victims of the situation that Tver Power Sale Company has created. Allegations concerning our "attempt to conquer" the sale business are groundless: the arguments do not conform to the existing market model, because this is not our businesses activity. Moreover, it is prohibited in Russian legislation to combine power sale and electric power transmission business activities."

Tverenergo has sent a letter to the Minister for Energy Industry S.I. Shmatko and letters to the Federal Tariff Service, JSC Market System Administrator and the regional power committee of the Tver Region.

In its letters the company notified about non-execution by TPSC as a wholesale market entity and electric power supplier of the conditions of the RF law in force.

As of 29 September, JSC Tver Power Sale Company was listed in JSC Market System Administrator web site among the wholesale market debtors as an organisation that have debts of more than one period between the dates of payment concerning payment of electric energy and capacity under the regulated  purchase agreements and payment of electric energy and capacity under the "pay beforehand" purchase agreements  (taken from http://www.atsenergo.ru/index.jsp?pid=171 ).

Considering that Tver Power Sale Company cannot execute its financial obligations to the full before its partners, that influences, first of all, ordinary population of the region, the company can lose its status of a last resort provider.

“The present situation is alarming," said Director for legal issues of IDGC of Centre, JSC Andrei Gladyshev. "TPSC does not make any moves to solve this problem, and it conflicts with the interests of its own clients. The present relations between our companies may lead to quite unfavourable consequences both for the electric industry of the region and JSC TPSC’s activity. There is legal base for deprivation of TPSC of the statues of the last resort provider of electric energy for the Tver Region and, in future, for application of procedures stipulated in the federal law On inconsistency (bankruptcy). The only way out for IDGC of Centre, JSC is to use all law mechanisms to defense its rights and lawful interests. We'll do our best to ensure that JSC Tver Power Sale Company’s inconsistency will not have a negative effect over  ordinary consumers of the region."