The project follows other contracts awarded between 2007 and 2008 for the supply of HV cables for power transmission grids in some of the largest Russian cities.

Russia represents a strategic market for Prysmian due to the fact that above €10 Billion investments are expected for the development of power transmission grids.

Between 2006-2008 Prysmian tripled its sales in Russia.

Prysmian SpA has been awarded a new contract in Russia for the development of a high voltage power transmission grid in Saint Petersburg by FSK, the national power transmission grid operator. Prysmian will design and install a 330 kV power transmission system that includes 80 km of high-tech underground cable. The cable will be manufactured in Prysmian’s plant in Finland and the commissioning is expected by mid 2010. The project is worth approximately €20 million and follows other contracts secured by Prysmian in Russia between 2007 and 2008, such as the supply of high voltage cables and accessories to modernise the power transmission grid of Moscow City. Prysmian, that takes part to the mission organised by the Italian Government, Confindustria (Italian employers' federation), ABI (Italian Bankers’ Association) and ICE (National Institute for the Foreign Trade), has offices in Moscow and in the latest years strongly increased its business in the country, tripling sales between 2006 and 2008.

Russia represents a strategic market for Prysmian, in particular in the sector of high voltage cables. The main Russia’s power grid utilities and operators have planned over €10 billion investments for the development and the modernisation of the power transmission grids. Prysmian is the worldwide leader in this sector and it has recently started the production of high voltage cables also in Italy, with the contract for the development of the first national “merchant line”, a power transmission grid owned by private companies.

In the sector of high voltage cables Prysmian has recently won other important contracts, such as the project KAHRAMAA Phase VIII in Qatar, whose value is €168 million (in consortium with Nexans), for the design and installation of a high voltage cables system, which will be included in the power transmission system expansion project currently under development in the Country.

The sector of cables and systems for energy transmission presents important opportunities also in other areas such as the USA and China, Countries where Prysmian has planned investments to increase the production capacity. In the USA, where the Government has announced approximately $40 billion investments for the modernisation and development of power generation plants and power transmission grids, a new high voltage cables plant, the first in this Country, is expected to become operative by the end of 2009. In China, where the Government has planned investments to develop 26.000 Km power transmission grids, Prysmian increased the production capacity of Baoying’s plant.

Prysmian
A leading player in the industry of high-technology cables and systems for energy and telecommunication, the Prysmian Group is a truly global company with sales exceeding Euro 5 billion in 2008 and a strong position in higher value-added market segments. With its two businesses, Energy Cables & Systems (submarine and underground cables for power transmission and distribution, for industrial applications and for the distribution of electricity to residential and commercial buildings) and Telecom Cables & Systems (optical cables and fibres and copper cables for video, data and voice transmission), Prysmian boasts a global presence with subsidiaries in 38 countries, 53 plants in 21 countries, 7 Research & Development Centres in Europe, USA and South America, and over 12,000 employees. Specialising in the development of products and systems designed to meet clients' specific requirements, Prysmian's key strengths include: a focus on Research & Development, the capacity to innovate products and production processes, and the use of advanced proprietary technologies. Prysmian is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange Blue Chip index.