Russia’s recent economic and geopolitical resurgence belies some serious weaknesses at home. One is the country’s ageing electricity system. In his recent address to the Duma, President Vladimir Putin said that, up to 2020, the sector would need new investment of $460bn – equivalent to 34 per cent of Russia’s current, commodity-charged gross domestic product.

That means tapping the capital markets, which is why the long-stalled restructuring of the power sector has finally kicked off. Unified Energy System, the state-controlled monolith, is being broken up into generation, supply and wires units, with stakes being sold to investors.