| Samara does not intend to change electricity tariffs The Samara region seems to have decided to create a precedent and not raise electricity tariffs for the next year. As the head of the department for state regulation and control in the electric power industry of the region, Andrei Kesarev, said yesterday at a press conference, 1 kWh in 2005 for the rural population will cost 80 kopecks, and for the urban population - 1 ruble. 15 kopecks, i.e. just like this year.
Mr. Kesarev explained that such a step became possible thanks to an agreement concluded in January between the regional administration, RAO UES of Russia and Samaraenergo. Lost energy revenues, he said, should be compensated by lower costs.
Concern for the population, however, was met with hostility by energy workers and industrialists: after all, if tariffs for the population are not raised, then they will have to be sharply increased for enterprises. RAO UES of Russia claims that this position of the local authorities does not coincide with the policy of the state, which intends to eliminate cross-subsidies in the electric power industry, therefore, it cannot be approved by the energy holding. And Samaraenergo reminds that the Federal Tariff Service (FTS) has already approved the maximum minimum and maximum tariffs for the next year, and the rates announced by Mr. Kesarev are below the minimum. Consequently, any interested person has the right to challenge them. In addition, they say in the company, the agreement to which Mr. Kesarev refers contains a slightly different norm: among the obligations of the management that he heads, the “regulation of tariffs for energy supplied by Samaraenergo” is listed in accordance with the index established by the government Russian Federation, and the provisions of a long-term regional comprehensive program to curb the growth of electricity tariffs." Thus, the region, when announcing the fixation of energy costs, fulfills only the part of the agreement that is convenient for it, the energy company says. And they name the reason for this - the gubernatorial elections, which may take place at the end of the year.
Energy workers claim that, according to their rough calculations, Mr. Kesarev’s proposal will lead to a loss of about 300 million rubles. The fact is that the main energy consumer of Samaraenergo - AvtoVAZ - in the event of a strong increase in tariffs, will keep its long-standing promise and will buy electricity on the wholesale market at a lower rate. Last year and the year before, the car plant already tried to leave the Samara power industry, but with great difficulty the local authorities managed to persuade it not to do this. Indeed, in the event of the loss of a large consumer, the energy sector's income base sharply decreases, and in order to maintain the profitability of Samaraenergo, the regional authorities would be forced to sharply raise tariffs for the population. If this happens, says Deputy General Director of Samaraenergo Yuri Chibikov, the summer repair campaign will be disrupted, in other words, the reliability of the energy system will be undermined.
The FTS, which is supposed to monitor how its decisions are implemented, chose not to comment on “pre-election stories.” The service only indicated that if Mr. Kesarev’s management makes such a decision, it will contradict the law “On state regulation of tariffs for electrical and thermal energy” and the government decree “On pricing for electrical and thermal energy.” They state that “the decision of the executive body of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation in the field of state regulation of tariffs, taken by it in excess of the powers established by the specified regulatory legal acts, is subject to cancellation in the manner established by the government.” This procedure provides for the cancellation of a decision within one and a half months after receiving a complaint from an interested person.
It was not possible to contact Mr. Kesarev yesterday. Nikolay GORELOV |
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