FAS DEPARTMENT ON HOUISNG-AND-UTILITIES REGULATION HELD A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS

In July 2018, FAS Department for Regulating the Housing-and-Utility Sector held a series of workshops with Federal Districts of the Russian Federation. Overall, 85 regions took part in the workshops to discuss transition to a new regulatory system for solid household waste treatment.

The importance of restraining tariffs for solid household waste treatment were raised; representatives of FAS Department for Regulating the Housing-and-Utility Sector emphasized that economically unreasonable costs cannot be included in the necessary gross revenue.

As a result of the workshops, FAS Department for Regulating the Housing-and-Utility Sector drafted and forwarded a letter to regulators clarifying specifics of regulating cap tariffs of regional operators for solid household waste treatment. In particular, it is explained that to set a unified tariff regional operators applies to a tariff regulator for setting a unified tariff, enclosing substantiating materials, including estimates for regulated activities and the necessary gross revenue from regulated activities enclosing economic justification of the estimates; the unified tariff is set by a tariff regulator at economically justified level following expert examination of submitted substantiated documents and materials. The expert examination will exclude incidents of including economically unjustified costs in the gross revenue of the regional operator.

At the videoconferences FAS also explained the key points of the National Competition Development Plan and targets for developing competition in the housing-and-utility markets.

Video-conferences on these issues will be held on a regular basis due to a need to have prompt discussions of pressing issues in the housing-and-utilities sectors.