Cabinet approves loan to RAO UES

The Russian government approved the proposal to allocate a budget loan tothe national power utility RAO UES worth 5bn rubles (about $159m) beforethe end of this year for preparing for the winter of 2002-2003. Thisdecision was voiced by Chief Executive Officer of RAO UES Anatoly Chubaisat a meeting with journalists today during a break in the Cabinet meeting.The RAO UES of Russia applied to the Energy Ministry asking for a loan toget ready for the fall and winter period of 2002-2003. The company'sofficials promised they would repay the debt in December 2002.This loan will be spent on creating the necessary fuel reserve fund andreconstruction operations in the third quarter of this year. Reconstructionoperations will be conducted, in the first place, in RAO UES subsidiariesin the Far East of Russia.In the first half of 2002, RAO UES of Russia already attracted creditsworth 15.1bn rubles (about $479m) for eliminating a financial gap -reserves of black oil and coal are to be created by October 1, 2002, whileearnings from energy sales will come only in winter and spring 2002-2003..