Enel, Russian railways extend power supply deal

MOSCOW, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Italian power company Enel (ENEI.MI) has renewed a contract to supply Russian Railways (RZhD) with electricity, it said on Thursday.

Enel said in a statement it had also signed a memorandum of understanding with Russian electricity importer/exporter Inter RAO IRAO.MM for cooperation in the energy sector in Russia and other countries.

Through Rusenergosbyt, its joint venture with Russia's ESN Group, Enel said it had "signed a memorandum of understanding with the Russian railway RZhD to supply power over several years at market prices, consolidating an already existing relationship."

The note did not say how much the deal was worth. However, in 2007 the Russian railways spent 45.6 billion roubles, or about 1.3 billion euros, on power supplies, two-thirds of which came from Enel.

Enel Chief Executive Officer Fulvio Conti said the agreement with Inter RAO UES laid the foundations for new industrial and commercial initiatives in Russia and surrounding countries.

Conti said the accord with RZhD would provide Enel with opportunities for the power it generated from its Russian generating company OGK-5 (OGKE.MM).

The agreement was signed as Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi met in Russia with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. (Reporting by Alberto Sisto, editing by Will Waterman)