Putin says lobbying for power tariff increase unacceptable

KEMEROVO, Aug 27 (PRIME) – Power companies’ lobbying for tariff increases is unacceptable, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday and demanded introduction of standard ways of tariff calculation, he said on Monday.

“The practice of aggressive lobbying for an unjustified tariff rise has emerged in some regions these days, and as a consequence, the earned money go to pockets of some people, close to those who make decisions of this kind instead of the development of regional power sector,” he told an energy development strategy commission.

“There is a proposal to change the situation by introducing a standard tariff calculation principle.”

Russia needs to strengthen its position on the global energy market because competition has increased significantly, Putin said. He also said that Russian energy companies have managed to combat the effect of sanctions and a difficult market situation.

“Russian energy companies are raising the investments in development. Last year, the amount grew by 10% and was 3.5 trillion rubles,” Putin said. Russia ranked first by oil development and second by gas development in 2017, he said. Russia is the third largest world coal exporter, he added.

The president mentioned such issues of the sector as a too slow gas distribution system development and set the task of creating a legal framework to settle mutual obligations between coal transporters and producers by long-term contracts.

Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia can top a soviet coal production record of 420 million tonnes in 2018, while investments may amount to 130 billion rubles a year. Exports can total more than 200 million tonnes in 2018.

He said that exports to Europe have limited chances to rise but Eastern exports can double by 2025, and the market share can rise to almost 20% from 9.3%.

Novak asked for state support of coal development projects through special investment contracts and territories of accelerated development.

(67.7911 rubles – U.S. $1)

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