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Chubais Spots Gas Shortage in Russia
Russia will face the gas shortage of 4 billion cu meters in 2007, RAO UES CEO Anatoly Chubais announced with reference to the gas balance of the country passed by the government. The shortage will widen to 8 billion cu meters in 2008 and reach 40 billion cu meters in a few years, Chubais predicted as quoted by Interfax.
Chubais said he doesn’t know what could be used to cover this shortage. But for RAO UES, gas is one of the key sources to produce electricity and Chubais has been continuously specifying that his company is unable to launch new facilities because it lacks gas.
In Gazprom, however, they say they have no free gas and urge RAO UES to shift to other fuel, coal or black oil, for instance.
The gas price is too low in Russia today, Chubais pointed out, explaining that it prevents Gazprom from deriving additional profits from domestic supplies. RAO UES suggestion is to hike prices to the European level.
Of interest is that Chubais opposes creating a joint venture of Russia’s coal giant, SUEK, and the gas monopoly of the country, Gazprom. “I don’t think it quite correct when, in Gazprom, everything is OK with crude, everything is OK with petroleum chemistry, with mass media, now everything is OK with coal, and the sole trifling detail that is not so well is the gas,” Chubais said, calling the current matter “the state capitalism.”
www.kommersant.com
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