Makhachkala, February 19, 2014. Daghestani government has signed cooperation agreements with foreign companies on implementation of energy investment projects in Daghestan, the board of press and information of Daghestani Head and Government Administration reports.

Tuesday, February 18, Daghestani government and foreign companies "Austro Energy Systems International" (Austria) and "Helios Power" (Bulgaria) signed a cooperation agreement on implementing energy investment projects in Daghestan.

The agreement was signed by Daghestan Prime Minister Abdussamad Gamidov, his adviser Rizvan Gazimagomedov, heads of relevant Daghestan ministries, President of "Austro Energy Systems International" Nerik Yakubov, the chairman of the board of directors of "Helios Power" Ivo Georgiev, and other officials.

Following the agreements, the foreign companies intend to implement investment projects on building small hydropower plants with total capacity of 50 MW (megawatts) and gas piston power plants with capacity of 20 MW in 2014 followed by another 80 MW till 2019. The government on its part will consider providing state support and guarantees for the investment projects.

As Nerik Yakubov noted, the Austrian company has been operating in Russia since 1995. It has built quite a number of gas-piston power plants of low and medium capacity. "In Daghestan, - Yakubov said, - there are great opportunities to develop in this direction. Your own natural gas seems to be a significant advantage in this case. In Europe, gas is twice as expensive as in Russia. In this regard, small and medium power capacity plants are not very effective. In Russia, it’s quite the opposite. We plan to actively work in this field in Daghestan."