The approval was granted at an in-person meeting held in Moscow under the chairmanship of Grigory Kurtser.
The innovation program is designed along the lines of a system known as Open Innovations. Open Innovations involve centralizing work, engaging outside developers with a strong grasp on the value of R&D, and commercializing intellectual property to meet best international practices.
The program aims to make INTER RAO UES Group a technology leader in Russia’s electricity sector and to achieve steady growth in the Group’s value and competitiveness in the long term by innovating along the whole production chain.
Importantly, the innovation program will raise the technical level, reliability, security and efficiency of the Group’s generating assets to world-leader standards.
The program will also result in cleaner production, reduce production costs, save energy, improve the quality of services for consumers of energy resources, and create a scientific, engineering and manufacturing base for the future development of both the Group and Russian power industry as a whole.
The innovation program envisages a direct R&D budget of 1.4% of INTER RAO UES Group’s Russian generating companies’ total revenue (equal, as of 2011, to around RUB 2 billion, or USD 67 million), in addition to approved innovative activities.
The Board of Directors also approved a report on JSC INTER RAO UES’ record of sustainable development and environmental responsibility for 2011.
This report was prepared in accordance with the recommendations of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and which received public certification in August 2012.