MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. The growth of energy consumption in the country by the end of 2023 could be 1.4% according to the forecast of the Russian Ministry of Energy, Minister Nikolay Shulginov told reporters.

"The Ministry of Energy is not revising the energy consumption forecast for [2023]. The expected growth is 1.4%," he said.

Earlier, Deputy Energy Minister Evgeny Grabchak said that electricity consumption in Russia has increased by 1.2% since the beginning of the year, excluding the temperature factor, while since the beginning of December the growth reached 1.73%. "There has been a 1.73% increase since the beginning of the month, and a 1.2% increase since the beginning of the year [as of the beginning of last week], not adjusted for temperature," he said, adding that given temperature conditions, in absolute terms, growth could reach 1.3 - 1.4%.

According to Grabchak, consumption growth in 2023 could come from the launch of huge industrial projects, particularly in the Far East, next year, but the most of the launches are scheduled for the second half of 2024.