OREANDA-NEWS. On 18 March 2009 was announced, that the Governor of the Ulyanovsk Region - S.I. Morozov, Mayor of Ulyanovsk - S.N. Ermakov and Executive Vice President of CJSC IES - V.V. Dikop signed the Program of Integration of Heating Power Assets of the town of Ulyanovsk. The document has information on key measures aimed at reorganization of heat supply scheme in Ulyanovsk. The existing heat supply system of the town with numerous intermediates between a heat producer and households is too complicated and inefficient that affects negatively the quality of heat supply and provokes payment defaults to generating companies. According to current information as of today the total debt of municipal heat transporting companies - Gorodskoy Teploservis (Town Heat Providing Center) and Teplokom for the heat consumed in 2008 and first months of 2009 exceeded one billion rubles.

Representatives of Volga TGC believe that transfer of municipal heat power networks under the management of power companies will stop the growth of resalers' debt to power companies, increase the quality of heat supply to regional center households and reduce costs of heat transport to consumers.

Let us to remind that management of the power company presented already this proposal to the local administration in March, 2006. But the decision has been made by the municipality just now.

According to the Program of Integration on the first stage the working group consisting of representatives of the Mayor Office, Municipal Unitary Enterprise Gorodskoy Teploservis and Teplokom have to implement actions on transfer of sales business from Municipal Unitary Enterprises to Volga TGC. Then the implementation of technical and financial audit of the property of utility enterprises is planned. One of the possible scenario of integration estimated by the working group as the most rational is leasing of municipal heat power networks. The full scope of actions under the program is planned to be completed by May this year, thus the generating company will have time to prepare its utility heating pipelines to the next heating season.

"We understand that the most vital issue for the population is how the transfer of heat power networks will affect the tariff for heat - Executive Vice President of CJSC IES Vladimir Dikop noted. - I would like to assure the citizens of Ulyanovsk immediately that power companies are strictly controlled by the Government in the questions related to the tariff formation and there will no be increase in tariff for Teplokom and Teploservis consumers this year. Moreover the state represented by the Federal Tariff Service, Government of the Ulyanovsk Region and Mayor Office will preserve the exclusive right to set the tariff rate for heat power and hot water supply for all categories of consumers for now and in the future."