Tariffs challenged
Natural monopoly tariffs may rise by less than expected
Yesterday, replying to questions from Russians, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that the Government could "demand that < ... > infrastructure monopolies do not push up their rates so fast < ... >, remembering that materials for investment programmes are going down < ... >, too".
Mr Putin's words caught officials in charge of tariffs and industry by surprise. According to two of them from federal agencies that are now discussing tariffs, the Government line remains unchanged - in 2009, the tariffs will stay at the level approved before the crisis. In mid-November, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said that "the Government will follow the set tariff pattern". He said officials found the decision very difficult, because "many businessmen asked them to freeze the tariffs at the 2008 level". "But," he explained, "tariffs are a key part of investment profits and projects, which means an additional demand for metal, cement and steel."
According to an official from the department concerned, there is also another point of view: "With everything around dropping in price, why should natural monopoly tariffs grow up, rather than down?" He said a high rate of tariff growth would keep demand back: "We are glad that Mr Putin has heard us." Mr Putin did not mean a freezing of tariffs, but rather a possible reduction in their growth rate, said a Government official: "The tariff discussion has become almost a fixture in the Government, and now borders on a philosophical discourse." The issue is under discussion, but no decisions are yet in sight, said the Prime Minister's spokesman. RZD (Russian Railways), Gazprom, and Rusgidro are refusing to comment on a possible slowing down of tariffs growth.
All companies in the key industries invited to discussions with Mr Shuvalov are encouraged to scale down their investment programmes, said a spokesman for the First Deputy Prime Minister. Investment programmes may be cut back by as much as 30%, said officials from the two departments taking part in the tariff discussion.
A Gazprom spokesman said that his company recently "considerably scaled back its 2009 programme - down to 920 billion roubles. RZD, owing to a drastic decrease in carriage, is prepared to reduce not only the cost of the investment programme, but also its volume. A spokesman for the Federal Grid Company said his company would take advantage of cut prices to reduce the cost of construction and modernization of power transmission lines and substations.
Yevgeniya Pismennaya