PRESIDENT PUTIN: UES, ENERGY MINISTRY, LOCAL LEADERS TO BLAME FOR ENERGY CRISIS IN PRIMORYE

The power grid monopoly Unified Energy Systems (UES), the country's Energy Ministry, and the regional administration have been named by President Vladimir Putin as major culprits in the energy crisis in Russia’s far-eastern Primorye region. At today’s meeting in the Kremlin with Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu, Mr. Putin said: "There has been no appropriate reaction so far from either the UES, the Energy Ministry or a local administration… We have to help Primorye at the expense of other administrative regions, where the situation is no less grave and people are giving their last." The situation in regions which help Primorye should not be allowed to worsen, the president cautioned. On his part, Mr. Shoigu said that the main cause for the power and heating crisis was the lack of balance in the country’s energy system.