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The President said that Russia is able to reach the goal of raising energy efficiency and reducing energy intensiveness by 40 percent, which he set in one of the first executive orders he signed, by using existing advanced technology solutions. It is important to put the required legal foundation in place, Mr Medvedev said. A draft law in this area is to be reviewed by the State Duma very soon and should come into force as from 2010.

The President called the energy efficiency situation in Russia alarming, noting that the energy intensiveness of Russia’s GDP far surpasses that of developed nations, and that energy losses in the country’s heating system exceed 50 percent.

Mr Medvedev called for the implementation of several projects to spread the use of energy efficient technology in different sectors of the Russian economy and social sphere. Efforts also must be made to mobilise all information resources in order to change people’s behaviour regarding energy use.

The meeting is expected to give its approval to six different projects. The first involves installing devices to register and regulate energy consumption. The second plans to replace existing lighting systems with more effective technology and develop its production in Russia. The third and fourth projects involve modernising some city districts and small towns with subsequent spread of their experience to other parts of the country, and also the development of an energy-efficient social sector. The fifth project deals with small-scale complex energy systems and the introduction of new technology in this sector. The sixth project will see the implementation of new work on superconductors and biofuel. Prospects of developing solar and hydrogen energy should be explored further.

Before the start of the meeting, which took place at the Russian Research Centre Kurchatov Institute, Mr Medvedev examined the institute’s main energy saving projects.