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Russia's UES chief Chubais could head nanotech corp. - paper

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The chief executive of Russia's electricity giant could eventually head a state-run nanotechnology corporation, where he is currently a member of the supervisory board, a Russian business daily said Monday.
MOSCOW, September 10 (RIA Novosti) - The chief executive of Russia's electricity giant could eventually head a state-run nanotechnology corporation, where he is currently a member of the supervisory board, a Russian business daily said Monday.

The Nanotechnology Corporation is now headed by Leonid Melamed, an investment corporation head and, until 2004, first deputy CEO of Russia's Unified Energy System (UES).

Citing a Kremlin source, Vedemosti said that although Melamed was appointed only Friday, UES CEO Anatoly Chubais could replace him in a year's time.

The paper quoted an unnamed Kremlin official as saying that President Vladimir Putin and Chubais had discussed a new job for the latter after mid-2008, when the utility giant will be split into 10 wholesale power companies and a federal power grid as part of the reform of the company aimed at attracting investment.

A source close to the UES board of directors echoed the news, saying Chubais was treating his position in the supervisory board as "a springboard, which would allow him to move on to the helm of the corporation," the paper said.

But a source close to the businessman has denied the reports, saying Chubais has nothing to do with nanotechnology, an area of science where matter is manipulated on an atomic scale and is believed by scientists to have potentially far-reaching applications in diverse fields, Vedomosti said.

Another senior UES member told the paper the appointment of Melamed and Chubais as head and a member of the supervisory board - which also comprises key ministers, Kremlin officials and senior lawmakers - respectively, was prompted by the government's desire to start using nanotechnology in future power plants.

Putin has made nanotechnology a national priority and promised $7.7 billion in budget funds for the project, designed to diversify the economy away from dependence on raw materials exports. The corporation will pursue state policy and commission projects in nanoscience.

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