Putin orders checks of Russia’s T Plus power company

MOSCOW, Aug 17 (PRIME) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday promised Sergei Gaplikov, acting governor of the Komi Republic, that law enforcement authorities will check operation of power utility T Plus, earlier known as Territorial Generating Company-7 (TGC-7), as part of the republic’s power system is not prepared for the next winter season.

Gaplikov told Putin that the region’s power system has not been upgraded over the past several years and its equipment is in a “critical state”. But T Plus, which owns local Vorkutinskaya TETs thermal power plant, transferred all the power system’s equipment to a joint stock company and decided to sell it through a public auction instead of fulfilling liabilities to upgrade and prepare it for the winter.

“This is why I would like to ask you, Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin), to improve the government’s work on the issue, to help us bring the system to the necessarily working condition by the heating season. I would like to ask you to grant law enforcement authorities with an order to find out what the reason for all of this is,” Gaplikov said.

“We will certainly do that. This irresponsibility must be stopped,” Putin said.

T Plus, a unit of Viktor Vekselberg’s Renova Group, provides power in 16 regions of Russia. The combined installed capacity of the company’s plants exceeds 14.3 gigawatts, while the combined heating power capacity exceeds 58,600 gigacalories per hour.

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