Russia. Lenenergo

The 3-year-maturity loan totalling USD 25 million has been provided as part of a syndicated loan facility for financing the reconstruction and construction of the company’s grid facilities. The project includes the modernisation of Lenenergo’s electricity distribution network in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast. Lenenergo is a natural monopoly and the largest regional power distribution company in Northwest Russia. The upgrade will reduce strains on the Russian network and contribute to increasing its stability and reliability. A modernised electricity network in this region is an important factor in the stability of the neighbouring Baltic countries’ electricity systems.

The Lenenergo electricity transmission and distribution project in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast will have positive environmental impacts. The project is expected to help reduce power losses in transmission and distribution. The project will not be located in any sensitive areas. Nor will the project involve involuntary resettlement. A polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) inventory, conducted in 2006, established that Lenenergo does not have transformers nor capacitors containing PCBs. Due to the fact that a majority of the new lines will be underground and that the project meets the Russian requirement with respect to safety distances, the project’s EMF levels are not considered to be of major concern.