Gas Decision Put Off until Next Month
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not make a decision yesterday on when the price of natural gas would be deregulated on the domestic market. Instead, he criticized the government for not preparing the energy balance estimates on time that would make to say how the economy will react to higher gas prices. A new meeting will held on that issue in December. Yesterday's meeting lasted more than five hours. Among its participants were Minister of Industry and Energy Viktor Khristenko, Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Gref, RAO UES of Russia head Anatoly Chubais and Gazprom head Alexey Miller. The press services of all those agencies were given not to comment on the outcome of the meeting.
Only the president's press secretary Alexey Gromov was wiling to talk about the meeting. “The president instructed the government to develop mechanisms that would guarantee the interests of the Russian consumer of energy resources and that would effectively soften the negative consequences of fluctuating prices on world energy markets,” he said.
Short excerpts from the beginning of Putin's speech show tat the meeting went badly from the start. “I want to note,” the president said, “that almost nothing has been done.” He then read along list of the things that had not been done. That list included an exact prognosis of changes in the energy balance (the responsibility of the Industry Minister) and issues of co-financing of research and development of energy projects (the responsibility of the economics Ministry). “There has not been final implementation of a single point,” the president concluded.
The meeting was supposed to be structured so that the Industry Ministry represented a compromise position struck between RAO and Gazprom, both of which are interested in seeing a price hike in natural gas and electricity and expanded free trade in those markets next year. They were to face off against Gref and Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin, who favor delaying the “gas revolution” until 2009. The short-term price increase for gas was to be considered separately. Khristenko, who, Kommersant earned, returned from sick leave to attend the meeting, was to speak about the necessity of raising gas prices by 30 percent next January 1. Opposition to this proposal would be strong. The budget has already been calculated for a 15-percent gas price increase. RAO and Gazprom, whose positions the Industry Ministry was taking into account wanted up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas to be traded on a commodities exchange, which the Economics Ministry opposes.
The president did not take a side. Apparently neither side argued very forcefully. Kommersant has learned that Federal Tariffs Service chairman Sergey Novikov included a proposal in the meeting documents that gas prices be raised in two steps next year, by 15 percent on January 1 and by another 13 percent on July 1. While RAO and Gazprom are insisting on quick price deregulation, the government is worried that about a possible increase in inflation caused by it.
Three sources in agencies represented at the meeting told Kommersant that “several important issues” had been settled, but most will be discussed again later, that “German Gref did not change his position” and the president is “dissatisfied with the government on this issue” and that there will be another meeting in a few weeks.
Natalia Grib, Ekaterina Grishkova, Dmitry Butrin
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 23, 2006
|
