‘We must admit that even though the legally proposed deadline (stated in the federal law # 36) for separating the power-supplying companies into generating, network-servicing, and supplying ones was stated as April 1, 2006, we still haven’t been able to separate,’ the spokesperson for SverdlovEnergoSbyt JSC said to UrBC representative.

‘A number of companies keep combining services involving electricity transmission with those involving selling it. Moreover, some of them even acquired the status of the guaranteeing supplier, which actually complies with the Retail Market Regulations,’ the spokesperson said.

‘The emergence and legitimization of several guaranteeing suppliers has become the most prominent change over the last six months. Thus, the federal law requirements have not been met by some companies, yet the legislation still gives them a chance to operate as guaranteeing suppliers, despite the obvious legal violations,’ the spokesperson observed.