| Mikhail Fradkov is involved in reforms of natural monopolies Mikhail Fradkov tried to reduce the intensity of passions around the discussion of reforms. According to the prime minister, transformations in the Russian economy will continue - but without shocks. After Yegor Gaidar, every new prime minister of Russia, taking on reforms, promised that from now on everything would go in an evolutionary way: “We will do everything, no one refuses reforms, but exclusively in an evolutionary way.” Mikhail Fradkov is no exception. He doesn't see himself as a revolutionary. More like a dialectician. True, as he himself often says, “the situation will be strained.” And so that subordinate ministers do not relax, they will “raise the bar” higher and higher.
One of the former Kremlin leaders once said about the government: “The problem is not that the government has hit some kind of bar that it cannot overcome; The problem is that the bar is so high that the government walks freely under it and does not notice it.” Mr. Fradkov, apparently, was called to become prime minister so that he could show the ministers that the bar is what it is! - there is and it will have to be overcome somehow. Otherwise, the innovative idea - to evaluate the work of ministries and departments based on specific results - will turn out to be just another PR campaign.
In general, the dialectically minded prime administrator is today trying to force subordinate ministers to qualitatively change their work. And at the same time “change the quality of economic policy.” According to Mr. Fradkov, it would be wrong to say that today “the economic line has already been formulated.” This will probably be done by the end of the year. But even then only if the line ministries restore the substantive part of the work, which, according to Mr. Fradkov, “they, alas, lost.”
Moreover, the Prime Minister is not sure that all industry experts will cope with the task 100%. However, he really hopes that they “will cease to be hostages of the resources allocated by the Ministry of Finance and will prove themselves.” The Prime Minister does not diplomatically criticize anyone personally. And about his alleged disagreements with the Ministers of Finance and Economics Alexei Kudrin and German Gref, he says briefly: “There are no disagreements.” And he adds (obviously keeping in mind the special status of the Minister of Finance in England, which Mr. Kudrin hinted at in every possible way) that “it is simply imprudent to argue between the prime minister and the head of the financial department.”
Apparently, creative discussions are welcomed in the current cabinet. For example, about the lack of progress in structural reforms, primarily in the gas and electricity industries. Accusations that nothing is being done in these areas and a direct call for the prime minister to take responsibility for reforms seem to have resonated with the head of the cabinet. On Friday, Mr. Fradkov, speaking about the reform of the electric power industry, said: “I myself am actively involved in this work.” The Prime Minister, in fact, gave the go-ahead for the board of directors of RAO UES of Russia to make a decision on the creation of wholesale generating companies on September 3. Moreover, last Friday the last of the responsible departments - the Federal Antimonopoly Service - agreed on the project for the formation of OGK. Nevertheless, there are more questions about the fate of generating companies than answers. Mr. Fradkov decided that the disputants themselves should answer them, and created a kind of “consensus for three” under the government Council on Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship. A special working group on the electric power industry headed by the Minister of Industry and Energy Viktor Khristenko, the head of RAO UES of Russia Anatoly Chubais and the co-owner of Basic Element and RUSAL Oleg Deripaska. Now the speed of reform will depend not so much on the prime minister, but on the ability of these three parties to negotiate, which can be considered a successful instrumental find by Mr. Fradkov. And for Mr. Deripaska - a kind of compensation for the failure in the last elections of the board of directors of RAO UES, when not a single representative received the required number of votes.
With the reform of the gas industry, Mr. Fradkov has not yet come up with such a cunning administrative solution. He, like all previous prime ministers, is still making do with general remarks about Gazprom as a national treasure, about an extremely complex mechanism that cannot be destroyed, etc. It can be considered a breakthrough that the head of government nevertheless admitted that “Gazprom needs to be reformed,” although he noted the need to “emphasize the role of the state.”
At the same time, the concept of reform of the gas industry is still not in the top priority plans of the Cabinet of Ministers. But nevertheless, the prime minister began some dialogue with the head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller, who does not often spoil the government with his visits. According to him, they now meet once every two weeks. So, perhaps, sooner or later the prime minister will “actively get involved” in this reform. Vera KUZNETSOVA |
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