Formation of an effective tariff regulation system in the fields of electric power, heat supply, water supply, and water disposal

The discussion was attended by representatives of the business community, the Federal Antimonopoly Service, and the Energy Consumers' Community Association.

Russia does not yet have a unified approach to tariff regulation. There are different approaches in tariff setting, as well as significant differences in the tariffs established in the territory of the Russian Federation, which makes it is necessary to completely revise the regulatory framework. The first steps towards unification and centralization of the tariff legislation are taken by FAS Russia. It is developing a draft federal law establishing uniform methods and standards of tariff regulation in socially important spheres of the economy, such as electric power industry, heat and water supply, water disposal, communications, and transport.

The participants discussed the transition, to begin on 1 July 2018, in the regulation of sales markups of guaranteed suppliers to the adoption of a method of comparison of analogues. This method is based on comparing the economic and technical parameters of the regulated entity's activities with those of other organizations in the regulated infrastructure industries. Special attention was focused on the initiatives by FAS Russia in the long-term regulation of the power grid complex and the activities of generating companies. Based on the results of the discussion, the tariff regulation experts of ART DE LEX and participants of the business breakfast concluded that one of the effective instruments of tariff policy is the use of relevant information about regulated markets. In particular, the benchmark criteria for economic and technical characteristics should be exactly the same for the companies being compared.

In addition to FAS Russia initiatives to amend the tariff legislation, the participants were interested in the results of FAS Russia's control of the quality of the examination of tariff decisions made in certain constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Thus, the audience was presented with specific examples of unjustified actions by the authorities in preparing expert opinions and publishing minutes of collegial bodies relating to adopted tariff decisions in the field of electric power and heat supply.

Kirill Dozmarov, attorney-at-law, head of the ART DE LEX Competition Practice Group, commented: "I am pleased to see us as pioneers. ART DE LEX has confirmed its leading position in the segment as one of the first law firms in the Russian market to synthesize the economy and the law to master the sphere of tariff regulation."

Tatyana Basova, a senior economist in the Competition Practice Group observed: "In my opinion, an additional opportunity for dialogue between business and government allows us to identify the most relevant steps in the reform of tariff legislation. We managed not only to discuss the topic of changing the system of tariff legislation, but also to develop quite specific proposals for improving the draft federal law “On the fundamentals of state regulation.”