Prime Minister Vladimir Putin urged officials to ensure a prompt and complete restoration of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower station. He added that the members of the power station staff involved in relief and clean-up work were awarded Certificates of Honour.

The prime minister issued approval to restart the 640 MW fourth power unit at the station, which was halted after the August 2009 accident.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Putin emphasised that the planned Boguchanskaya power station should begin work on schedule, and he urged the investors of the project, RusHydro and RUSAL, to commission the first three hydroelectric power units in 2011 and the remaining units in 2013. "We must not lessen our concentration on ensuring Siberia has a reliable power supply until the Sayano-Shushenskaya power station has been reconstructed and Boguchanskaya has been built," the prime minister said.

He also reminded government officials that the preparation of energy facilities for autumn and winter should be closely monitored.

Mr Putin also mentioned the recent terrorist attack on the Baksanskaya hydropower station in the Caucasus and instructed the relevant agencies to ensure that effective security measures are put in place to protect the energy supply infrastructure in the country. 

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's opening remarks:

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

Let me first welcome you all and, first of all, those of you who are currently at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower station.

Almost a year has passed since the accident that took place at this hydropower station on August 17. The accident resulted from a confluence of circumstances, but not from that alone. It also resulted from serious mistakes, which led to grave consequences, including fatalities.

Today let us talk about the status of the repair works. But before we begin, I would like to say that despite the grave consequences of the accident, we managed to avoid the worst-case scenario. And this was due to the station's employees and specialists from the Emergencies Ministry acting professionally, bravely and decisively.

I have recently signed an executive order to award a group of employees at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower station, to whom we largely owe the fact that the station was saved, with Russian Government Certificates of Honour. Today I would like to thank them all once again for their courage and professionalism.

Today we are commissioning another hydroelectric power unit, the third one in this series, which will help increase the station's output to 1,920 MW. The fifth and sixth are operational and we are commissioning the fourth hydroelectric power unit today. Another hydroelectric power unit, unit number three, is to become operational by the end of this year.

In addition, we have adopted amendments to the 2010 federal budget, according to which we will set aside 500 million roubles for rebuilding the road between Sayanogorsk and the village of Cheryomushki. Rebuilding this road will enable the delivery of large and heavy pieces of machinery for the restoration of the station's worst-hit units.

Today I would like to hear how work on the restoration of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower station is going, whether there are any unresolved issues and what these issues are, if indeed there are any.

I would also like to hear detailed reports on the progress of work to manufacture new hydroelectric power units and the construction of the shore spillway, the first stage of which, as you know, we have already completed. We will also touch upon social issues.

There is another issue, which is not connected with the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower station. We are working at full tilt on the construction of another major hydropower station, the Boguchanskaya hydropower station.

Located in Siberia, this is currently the biggest electric power facility, with a capacity of 3,000 MW. It is part of the region's Development Strategy. We have very recently decided to provide a 28.1 billion rouble loan from Vnesheconombank towards the completion of construction work on this hydropower station. The loan will total 50 billion roubles, 21.9 billion roubles of which will be set aside for the aluminium smelter. Launching this power station will not only solve Siberia's energy supply problem, but will stimulate the social and economic development of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, in particular creating conditions for the exploration of the region's natural resources.

I ask that the project's investors, RusHydro and RUSAL, launch the station to schedule, including launching the first stage of the three hydroelectric power units in 2011, and that they complete the launch by 2013.

For this, the investors must create an effective project management system, implement in full their liabilities concerning the construction of the power station itself and of the associated aluminium smelter. I ask the Krasnoyarsk Territory government, I hope they will hear me, to work with energy consumers on guaranteeing the supply of electricity produced by the Boguchanskaya hydropower station.

And finally. We must not lessen our concentration on ensuring Siberia has a reliable power supply until the Sayano-Shushenskaya power station has been reconstructed and Boguchanskaya has been built.

The situation demands that officials display the very highest professionalism, good organisation and responsibility. It is vital that the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower station is repaired fully, in a timely fashion, and that it can provide the necessary power exchange for electricity from other regions whatever the weather, as we made sure it did last winter. Last winter, I would like to repeat, we managed to do this. I hope that today we will be responsible in our approach to the problems that we will face this winter.

Let's get to work. I would like to hear from Mr Igor Sechin. Mr Sechin, please go ahead.

Igor Sechin: Mr Putin. Two units have been launched under the plan to restore the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower station that you approved, as you have already said. And today, after a 72-hour test, we are ready to launch the fourth generating unit, which will add 640 MW to the station's capacity.

The test results show that the unit's vibration indicators are several times lower than the norm. Temperature and other indicators are within the norm.

Mr Putin, everything is ready for the launch. Would you like us to launch the unit?

Vladimir Putin: Start the launch...

How is it going?

Igor Sechin: Mr Putin, the unit is switched on; it is generating power.

Vladimir Putin: I congratulate you. Thank you. Congratulations!

Let's discuss those issues that have not yet been resolved and that we are now facing. How are the government orders concerning the station's reconstruction being implemented?

Igor Sechin: Turning to the government orders and your own orders. There were 120 of them, 95 of which have been implemented and 25 of which are being implemented now. No orders have been delayed or defaulted on in their implementation.

The station's reconstruction is proceeding to schedule.

In the period 2011-2013 we will install and launch six new hydroelectric power units. This is being carried out by the company Power Machines. Mr Putin, you visited this company recently, and its general director and chief designer are here now. A team of engineers from Power Machines are working on the station round the clock. We will replace the temporarily isolated hydroelectric power units (these are the third, fourth, fifth and sixth units) with new ones. The station will be completely restored by 2014.

Vladimir Putin: Mr Zimin, when do you think the road to the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower station will be rebuilt, so it can be used for deliveries of large and heavy equipment, manufactured in St Petersburg?

Viktor Zimin: (Prime Minister of the Republic of Khakassia): We will have finished the design work by August 10 and, according to the schedule, we should complete the reconstruction, including the bridge, within a year.

Vladimir Putin: So, the road should be ready for deliveries of large and heavy equipment by next August?

Viktor Zimin: Yes, Mr Putin. There is no alternative, we must make sure of it.

Vladimir Putin: Good. Mr Zimin, how are you addressing social issues, including support for local residents and employees at the station who lost their relatives, were injured or who lost their jobs following the accident? How are the instructions on social support for the public being carried out?

Viktor Zimin: Mr Prime Minister, in accordance with the government's executive order we have paid those who were injured and the families of those killed 82 million roubles. The overall financial aid totalled 300 million roubles, with RusHydro providing 160 million roubles of that sum. In addition, Mr Putin, major work is underway and this work is planned for more than just two or three years. In accordance with your instructions, these programmes are framed in terms of 18 to 20 years and include children's free-of-charge education at Russian universities and special allowances. Moreover, as of today RusHydro has provided jobs for all unemployed relatives of those who died in the accident.

We are also addressing the issues of the Cheryomushki village. RusHydro and the government of the Republic of Khakassia have signed an appropriate agreement. This year alone RusHydro will invest almost 300 million roubles in addressing social issues and rebuilding many facilities, including schools, kindergartens and hospitals there.

This programme, envisaging the reconstruction of all social facilities, is designed for the period expiring 2014 and comes in addition to financial aid from the republic itself. Besides, we have agreed today, and this is an issue we touched upon at a public meeting, that an indoor ice stadium will be built in the village of Cheryomushki in 2011. Mr Putin, as of today all instructions have been executed, as Mr Sechin said, and all the obligations undertaken by both federal ministries and the Khakassian government are being honoured. I would like to assure you that we will continue to do so in the future.

Vladimir Putin: Good, thank you. I ask you to continue to monitor resolution of these issues.

I have a question for Mr Dod (addressing Mr Dod, chairman of the management board at RusHydro). Mr Dod, in order to ensure Siberia's continued development, we have to make sure the region's electric power capacity increases. How is the construction of the Boguchanskaya hydropower station going?

Yevgeny Dod (Chairman of RusHydro's Management Board): Mr Putin, following your instruction and a decision taken by the Supervisory Board of Vnesheconombank on July 29 to provide a 50 billion rouble loan, work on the Boguchanskaya hydropower station is being done on schedule. All of the station's nine hydroelectric power units, which have a total capacity of 3,000 MW, will enter service in 2013. I am sure that we will resolve our organisational and financial issues with RUSAL. There are currently no limitations that could prevent us from bringing this extra capacity on-stream.

Speaking about RusHydro as a whole, we plan to spend over 400 billion roubles on construction works in the period from 2011 to 2015, over 94 billion roubles on re-equipping and repairing facilities, which will allow us to bring a capacity of over 6,000 MW on-stream across Russia, including five facilities in the North Caucasus.

Vladimir Putin: Good. Mr Shmatko (Minister of Energy), I would like to return to something I mentioned in my opening remarks. I would like to ask you all to continue to pay close attention to preparations for this year's autumn and winter periods and for the beginning of the next year.

We don't know what temperatures we will face in Siberia. The weather there was extremely cold last year. Your ministry and subordinate agencies coped quite well with providing electricity, redistributing capacity and had prepared the grid in time. How are the preparations for winter 2010 to 2011 going?

Sergei Shmatko (Minister of Energy): Mr Putin, with today's commissioning of the fourth hydroelectric power unit, Siberia's energy system is no longer in deficit, and, as you correctly noted, we will do our best to get through the winter successfully.

The problem is that due to the fact that the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower station was out of service we had to largely suspend repair programmes at coal-powered stations in Siberia. In this respect, especially during our preparations for winter, our main goal will be to make sure that all the repair works are carried out, including those that had been suspended. This is one aspect of it. On the other hand, we are implementing the programme that I have reported back to you about, the one to develop the grid's capacity and facilitate power redistribution, which is necessary to ensure stable power balance in Siberia.

As I have reported back to you, there is the option of working via Europe, via Kazakhstan for Eastern Siberia, or of working via Irkutsk.

I can report back to you now, Mr Putin, that we currently see no significant dangers or risks connected with possible emergencies in winter. The most important thing is that we make sure our plans are carried out.

Vladimir Putin: I ask you to monitor these issues on an ongoing basis.

And my last closing remark is about the Baksanskaya hydropower station. We all know about the dramatic incident that happened there, the terrorist attack on the Baksanskaya hydropower station. I ask you, Mr Sechin, the Ministry of Energy and all the agencies that are directly involved, in conjunction with the law enforcement services, to do everything within your power to ensure that effective security measures are put in place to protect infrastructure facilities, including those of the energy supply infrastructure.