VITALY KOROLEV: GOVERNMENT ADOPTED NEW MEASURES TO DETER UTILITY PAYMENT GROWTH

Heads of regions in the Russian Federation should coordinate with FAS its decisions on exceeding the maximum payment for payments of the population index

The Government signed a Decree curtailing cases when regional authorities can make a decision for a particular municipality about a higher level of indexation that specified by the Government of the Russian Federation. Now the focus of evaluation will be on affordability of such payment changes for people.

Earlier, payments in some municipalities could change for a different value. It depended on tariff decisions made in a region that are based on taking into consideration the condition of utility infrastructure systems and the needs to repair or modernize them, as well as on a package of utility services in a particular municipality.

The grounds for exceeding can include expenses for measures aimed at high-quality and uninterrupted supply of utility resources to new capital construction facilities; enhancing power efficiency and the technical level of the facilities in utility systems.

“Since the tariff regulation powers were transferred from the Federal Tariff Service to FAS, a downward trend has emerged for exceeding the growth index for the utility payment from the population: in 2015 - 1126 municipalities, in 2016 – 1423, in 2017 – 826, and in 2018 – 498. The measures adopted by the Government, reinforced control over compliance with federal restrictions in utility services, and are aimed at fuller protection of the people’s rights for fair and justified payment for such services”, pointed out Deputy Head of FAS Vitaly Korolev.

According to Deputy Head of FAS, by 10 November 2019, Heads of regions must submit the documents (draft orders, materials on economic justification of the payment size, analysis of social-and-economic consequences, etc.)

“During 30 days, the Antimonopoly Service analyses in detail the documents submitted and makes a decision on approving them. If the Head of a region failed to submit and approve the above materials in case of a planned overrating, FAS shall issue a warning to the Governor to eliminate the exposed violations, and relevant information is reported to the President of the Russian Federation that the Head of a particular region did not meet the federal limitations”, emphasized Vitaly Korolev.