MOSCOW, June 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's industry and energy minister said Wednesday the government was seeking to develop a liberalization mechanism for the domestic electricity market in a bid to accelerate reforms in the electric power sector.

President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the inability of Russia's electricity monopoly Unified Energy System (UES) to meet demand from commercial consumers was impeding annual GDP growth. He called for a development program to be drawn up as soon as possible.

And Viktor Khristenko said Wednesday that the government had reached a decision that would lead to progress in the electric power sector's reform. "This is to develop a system that will manage the liberalization of the electric power market," he said.

The minister said that a new liberalization plan had two main aims: to attract private investment into the thermal power sector and to increase gradually the share of private traders on the domestic electricity market to 5%-15%.

Khristenko said the government was expecting to raise 70 billion rubles ($2.6 billion) from additional share issues by Russia's power generating companies in 2007.

"Private investment will not harm thermal power sector and UES will remain an active player in the sector," he said.

Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov highlighted earlier Wednesday the role of the electric power industry in country's future economic development as a whole.

"The development of the electric power industry is a key reserve of the development of the Russian economy," he said at the opening of a government meeting on the future of energy industry.