Kommersant: “Government reprimanded for excessive energy efficiency”
However, bureaucrats have been saving their own energy thus far.
Out of the 40 bylaws that should have been adopted by June 1, 2010 and become the basis for implementing the energy efficiency law, less than half have been passed thus far, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said yesterday at a government Presidium meeting.
He pointed to the "unsatisfactory work" of the agencies concerned and demanded that the law become fully effective this year. Representatives of business circles say this is impossible because the 2010 budget year "has already been missed."
In opening a government Presidium meeting yesterday, Vladimir Putin recalled that the government was confronted with a challenging task - to reduce the energy intensity of Russia's GDP [E/GDP ratio] by no less than 40% by 2020. A law to this effect was adopted in November 2009. Work on bylaws, which are to ensure the implementation of the law and the necessary infrastructure for an energy efficiency market, "cannot be regarded as satisfactory."
"Only 16 out of the 40 resolutions and executive orders stipulated in the action plan have been adopted as of June 1, 2010. What's the matter? This is less than a half [of what's required]! Where is your executive discipline?" the Prime Minister asked indignantly.
He instructed the agencies concerned to do everything possible to implement the law as provided by the plan within the shortest period of time.
"Work to carry out energy saving measures in the public sector should be started this very year. All public facilities should be equipped with water, gas, heat and electricity meters by January 1, 2011. Apartment houses should be equipped with them within the next two years, by January 1, 2012," Putin said.
In replying to Kommersant's questions, representatives from the ministries supervising the project (the Energy Ministry and the Industry and Trade Ministry) explained the delay by "complex coordinating processes."
"The failure to get approval for one bylaw delays the adoption of another," the Industry and Trade Ministry told Kommersant. Its source at the Economic Development Ministry, which coordinates this work, admitted that the Finance Ministry had already earmarked funds for the preparation of the required documents but had not announced a single tender yet.
Anton Danilov-Danilyan, head of the Novy Svet project (one of the five pilot projects devised by the working group for energy efficiency within the presidential modernisation commission), told Kommersant that "businesses have set aside the funds to implement the project, the only hindrance being the lack of legislation (see Kommersant of April 22). He said "there are about 20 serious legislative barriers" even down to the replacement of the typical incandescent bulb with energy-saving florescent bulbs.
However, the main problem is the lack of a clear financial mechanism for implementing the law. The state programme (authored by the Energy Ministry and largely cut by the Finance Ministry), which provided for state co-financing of energy efficiency measures, as well as fiscal incentives for the companies and regions as promised by the law, has not been made public (see May 4 Kommersant). Yesterday, Vladimir Putin reminded the ministers that authorities at all levels should provide for funding energy saving programmes while drafting their 2011 budgets. "These programmes seldom require extra allocations. It's enough to efficiently redistribute available resources," he added.
With the Russian economy being energy inefficient, energy efficiency programmes in the regions could be profitable without extra budget contributions. "There are a host of top-priority projects that do not require state subsidies and manage to pay for themselves, even at market rates, in a couple of years. There is no business environment; people cannot formalise their relations in this sphere. Therefore, everyone is keen to find sources of budget financing," Vsevolod Gavrilov, head of Sberbank's department for energy efficiency projects, explains. Under the law, energy service companies (ESCOs) operating on the basis of energy service contracts should provide energy audit services and implement energy efficiency measures. Under the said contracts, ESCOs should implement them for the public sector, too, receiving remuneration from the saved funds. The Economic Development Ministry has not yet drafted standard energy service contracts, though the Tyumen Region is already implementing pilot projects with the use of such contracts. "So far, we have been doing this at our own risk and peril. Even the energy efficiency law does not explain any rules for applying the contract, nor does it provide measures for the protection of investor rights," Sberbank says.
The regions must submit their energy efficiency programmes by August 1, 2010. However, Gavrilov thinks that the chance to include them in the 2010 budget has already been missed.
Alexei Shapovalov
