China, whose booming economic growth has brought with it soaring demand for fuel and electricity, has already become a major buyer of Russia's oil and gas, as well as arms. Russia in turn relies heavily on imports of Chinese consumer goods, and recently became the largest importer of Chinese cars.
"We have an agreement on power exports to China, which includes three stages, and we will start implementing the first stage next year," Leonid Drachevsky said during his current visit to China.
UES plans to export 3.6-4.5 billion kWh per year during the first stage. In the second stage, up to 2012, power supplies will be increased by 18 billion kWh each year, and in the third stage, exports will rise by another 38 billion kWh annually.
"The project stipulates annual power supplies to China at 60 billion kWh, but we will reach that capacity gradually, starting with 2-3 billion kWh and increasing the volume [of exports] stage-by-stage," the official said.
Drachevsky also said Russia is ready to supply electricity to the Korean peninsula, and is awaiting concrete proposals from foreign investors.
"Supplies of electricity to the Korean Peninsula could guarantee stability in regional hot spots, including those that are experiencing a deficit of power resources," he said.
