  The well-known asymptotic formula for the module of a condenser with one of
the plates degenerating to a point is generalized to the case of a condenser of
general type. The condensers under consideration consist of n plates, n > 2,
and the potential functions of condensers take values of different signs on the
plates. The asymptotics are considered when one of the plates is fixed while
the other n - 1 plates are constracted to points. Applications of the formula
to geometric function theory are given. Among them are inequalities for complex
numbers and Green functions and also theorems on the extremal decomposition and
distortion theorems for univalent functions.
