The Government has reported on the implementation of Presidential Instruction No. Pr-967 of April 29, 2013 (Clause 1, Subclause 7) with regard to proposals on containing the growth of and reducing the prices (tariffs) of commodities (works, services) supplied by natural monopolies.
In particular, the Government reports that the Government meeting on May 16, 2013, took as a basis the overall levels of prices (tariffs) for the services of infrastructure sector companies in 2014 and the planning period of 2015 and 2016, which corresponded to the previously approved decisions of the Russian Government.
The indexation of gas prices for all categories of consumers with the exception of the general public is forecast at a level of 15% in 2014, 14-15% in 2015, and 5-6% in 2016; electricity transmission prices, 9-10% a year in 2014-2015; and heating, 12% in 2014, 10% in 2015, and 6% in 2016.
The Ministry of Economic Development and the Federal Tariff Service have been instructed to additionally study, with the participation of the federal executive agencies concerned, measures directed at optimising fluctuations of prices (tariffs) for commodities (services) supplied by natural monopolies and for services of the housing and utilities complex, and to take them into account in developing the parameters of the forecast for 2014 and the planning period of 2015 and 2016.
The Government of the Russian Federation is also planning to implement measures aimed at increasing the efficiency of economic activities of the natural monopolies, including:
- using consolidated maximum rates for capital construction facilities, which are taken into account in tariff regulation;
- optimising procurement procedures;
- introducing technological auditing of investment programmes, including audits involving evaluating the expediency of implementing investment projects on the basis of fluctuations of the actual amounts of services rendered;
- using a comparative analysis method with regard to operational and investment costs.
