ALEXEI MATYUKHIN: SEPARATE WASTE COLLECTION MUST BE INTRODUCED IN RUSSIA

To this end, the regions that have already started implementing this practice must be stimulated and supported

On 25 June 2019, FAS Working Group on Solid Municipal Waste Treatment at the Expert Council on Housing-and-Utilities sector discussed regional practice for tariff-setting on solid municipal waste treatment, the standards and transitions of the regions of the Russian Federation to separate waste collection.

Under the current law, regions in Russia independently choose a regional operator, which bears full responsibility for waste treatment. Regional authorities devise and approve waste treatment schemes and tariffs.

Head of FAS Department for Regulating the Housing-and-Utilities Sector, Alexei Matuykhin, drew attention that “FAS primary task is to warn about possible violations of the tariff and antimonopoly law since regional operators do not observe these standards on a regular basis, for instance, do not organize competitive bidding to select contractors for waste removal, which affects competition development and pushing incumbents from the waste disposal market”.

The second item on the agenda was tariff-setting in solid municipal waste treatment. FAS representatives explained the amendments to the law, discussed the expected pricing changes in solid municipal waste treatment, and warned regional operators about the existing practice and tariff-setting stages.

“The final size of consumer payments fully depends on the decisions made by regions, the tariffs and standards. Therefore, it is very important to articulate the existing rules to prevent their violations in the future”, emphasized Alexei Matuykhin.

The experts also discussed separate waste collection. Representatives from regions put forward their proposals and shares the experiences.

Head of FAS Department for Regulating the Housing-and-Utilities Sector commented: “A transition to a system of separate waste collection falls fully within responsibility of regions. As we are aware, many regions have already started the transition – in some municipalities or across the entire region. The practice is very diverse and interesting. In our opinion, regions should be stimulated and supported by all means in their desire to shift to separate waste collection since it is an essential change in the waste treatment system. FAS also believes that, guided by the pioneers’ experience, this practice must be introduced in the entire territory of Russia”.